


This already feels like more of a home

by H3118ENDER



Category: Dream SMP (Fandom), Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Deviates From Canon, Explicit Language, Family Dynamics, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Sleepyboisinc - Freeform, Trauma, War, no beta we die like wilbur
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28643217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/H3118ENDER/pseuds/H3118ENDER
Summary: As the ashes of L'Manberg settle the conflict continues to come to life setting the stage for a new wave of blood shed. Stuck slam in the middle of past and present friends Ranboo is coming to learn that even without nations to their names feelings and feuds don't die but people, people do.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Floris | Fundy & Phil Watson, Floris | Fundy & Wilbur Soot, Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade
Comments: 138
Kudos: 533





	1. A New Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is my first fic so be kind! I also don't watch all of the streams so on top of deviation from canon on purpose you'll probably have some on accident. Please let me know what you think!

Ranboo averted his eyes nervously as Philiza turned towards him with a flourish. “You can stay here,” he said pointing at the half-built home. The winged man paused before turning back to the house and flinging open its door. “ It is admittedly not the most ritzy place but it is at least a roof over your head,” Philiza said as he gestured with his wing to the dark interior.

  
“I-uh.. thanks,” Ranboo replied, still trying to avoid Phil's eyes. Faint barking could be heard from deeper within the house. “Are there dogs in there? I definitely hear barking,” Ranboo asked as he peered through the doorway.

  
Philiza, looking a bit bashful began to rub the back of his head but before he could reply Technoblade interrupted. “I guess you could say it’s a doghouse not to say we are trying to put you in a proverbial one,” he said walking up behind Ranboo.

  
Slightly startled Ranboo turned around briefly meeting Technoblades eyes before turning his gaze away. “Technoblade, hey,” Ranboo greeted surprise coloring his tone. “I-Thanks for letting me stay I know you haven’t had the best experiences with guests and it me-”

  
Technoblade cut him off waving a hoof as if to clear the air. “It is the least we can do and I doubt the Philiza or the voices would have let me live it down if I didn’t extend the invitation.”

  
Before Ranboo could even ask about the “voices” Philiza met his eyes and shook his head. It was as if he knew exactly what Ranboo was about to ask.

  
Technoblade ignoring the look exchanged between the two pressed a heavy cloak into Ranboos hands. “I figured you could use some winter wear if you're gonna be sticking around for a while,'' he said nonchalantly before turning around and starting to walk away. He paused and looked over his shoulder, “Dinner will be served shortly, be there or be square NERRRRDS.” He then began to hoof it back to his house as he finished putting an emphasis on the word nerds.

  
“Okay..” Ranboo replied trailing off as Technoblade sprinted towards his house. Glancing down at the cloak he noted that it was fur lined and light blue with a gold chain fastening at the collar. Without looking up, Ranboo asked, “Is he uh always like that?” Philiza didn’t reply and remained silent for an uncomfortable amount of time. Looking up Ranboo questioningly glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. “Philiza..? Are you good?” he asked.

  
Philiza blinked rapidly for a second, his glazed over eyes clearing as he yanked his gaze from the cloak. “Yeah.. yeah,” he said pausing once more. “That cloak looks really familiar. I guess I’ve seen Techno wear it. It just brought back some old memories.”

  
“Okaayy..” Ranboo replied with concern and doubt in his tone before tucking it away in his inventory. “You were going to help me settle in..?” He questioned while beginning to rub his shoulder anxiously.

  
“Right.. Right,” Philiza said shaking his head as if to bring himself back to the moment. “Follow me then,” he continued as he walked into the building.  
Ducking his head slightly to walk in after Philiza, Ranboo’s eyes began to cast the room in a faint green and red glow making the dark interior a bit clearer. A crafting table, a singular chest, and a hanging picture could be seen in the little illumination provided with the faint outline of dogs deeper in the interior also visible. The click of a flint and steel sounded as Phil lit a torch lit before hanging it on the wall.

  
“It just needs a bed then it should be right as rain,” Philiza said. “Your roommates might not be the best but they’ll keep you safe if anything ever happens while me and Techno are away,” he said pointing towards the numerous dogs, now visible.

  
Ranboo took a moment to take it all in with a quick glance before allowing his gaze to land on the dogs. “Right as rain...” Ranboo murmured quietly to himself in distaste before he finally really took in the sheer amount of dogs present “Are they uh.. are they the hou-” he asked before Philiza cut him off.

  
“The hound army? Yeah, they are, what is left of them at least..” he trailed off his tone taking on a slightly pained edge. “It's more than we expected at least considering the carnage,” the winged man finished as he walked over to the nearest dog.

  
Ranboo hesitantly replied, “well it is nice to hear that some of them got out okay..” His gaze locking on to Philiza as he petted one of the dogs. Ranboo paused for a moment before walking over to a dog and offering one a pet himself.

  
Breaking the small moment of silence that had settled between the two Philiza looked back over to Ranboo and said, “I should go help Techno with dinner.” Philiza walked over towards the tall half enderman and softly pressed some wool into his hand. “There should be some wood in the chest but just let me or Techno know if you need anything,” he continued before brushing further past Ranboo and out the door. As he paused by the doorway Philiza quickly added “I’ll see you in at dinner,” before starting to close the door.

  
Ranboo replied, “I’ll uh see you th-,” the slam of the door cutting him off as Philiza left. Awkwardly finishing his sentence to the empty air Ranboo turned towards the chest and crafting table and began to get started on settling in.

  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
After some time had passed a sudden knock startled Ranboo causing him to jolt out of his position leaned over the crafting table and to hit his head on the ceiling. Softly rubbing his head Ranboo turned towards the door as Philiza entered.

  
“Food’s ready,” Philiza said as he looked around taking in the house. A soft glow from a furnace lit up the room and provided the room with some much needed warmth.The other room with the dogs appeared to be much more well lit and the ground had been cleared of snow. In the corner a blue bed could be seen with a chest, and a makeshift desk beside it. Philiza’s eyes landed on an open journal on the desk. “I can see you’ve made yourself at home,” he said with a smile as he finished taking it all in.

  
Ranboo’s eyes followed Philiza’s gaze to his journal, his face draining of color before he quickly snatched it off the desk. “I uh hope you don’t mind,” he replied nervously turning towards Philiza.

  
Philiza softly huffed and said. “No of course not we said you could but Ranboo…” He shook his head and met Ranboo’s eyes, his gaze momentarily intensifying. “You know you don’t have to worry about that with us Ranboo,we’ve already given it back to you once. We wouldn’t do, well, that to you.”

  
Ranboo turned his head away at the intensity of Philiza’s gaze for a moment before replying, “I know, I know, I just uh..” He paused fidgeted with his hands for a second the recent reveal of his so-called “betrayal” playing in his head before turning back to meet his gaze. “It is just after Dream…” he trailed off.

  
Philiza’s gaze softened and he walked over and pulled Ranboo into a hug, “I know you don’t have to explain yourself. I just want you to know you can trust us,” he finished.

  
Ranboo awkwardly patted Philiza’s back before pulling away from the hug. “Thanks that.. Really means a lot to me especially after, well, everything,” he replied lamely.

  
Technoblades' voices rung out ripping both of them from the moment, “are you two girls done braiding each other's hair? The food is getting cold! I am about to start eating without you!!” He yelled from his house's nearby balcony.

  
Both Ranboo and Philiza turned towards the door as Techno talked. Philiza shouted back in reply, “we were having a moment Techno!”

  
“Well come have a moment inside where there's food or I might just have a moment with ya’lls share,” replied Technoblade as he turned back into his home.

Philiza sighed before starting towards the door, “he isn’t kidding about eating our food. He can be a real pig when it comes to meals.”

Ranboo started to follow after him after smoothing his suit down from the hug. “Sounds like there might be a story to that..”  
As they finished walking out the door Philiza replied, “you have no idea Ranboo, no idea.”

  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
When both of them finally made it into Techno’s house an already eating Techno greeted them from his spot at a small table pulled up by the fireplace and Edward.  
Philiza raised an eyebrow as he took a seat next to Techno. “Eating without us already, huh?”

  
“Bruhhhhhh, I’m just making sure nothings poisoned,” Technoblade replied with a still full mouth.

  
Philiza just laughed and said “yeah right, okay.” Looking over at Ranboo who still stood awkwardly by the doorway Philiza patted the seat next to him. “Come have a seat I promise no one bites.”

  
As Ranboo set down, Technoblade turned towards Philiza. “Hey Philiza, Philiza Minecraft, speak for yourself some of us can and will.” Techno said as he gestured at Philiza threateningly with his fork while stabbing the air jokingly.

  
Philiza just laughed and rolled his eyes in exasperation at his antics before starting to pile his plate with food from the varying dishes that set in the middle of the table. “Just ignore him Ranboo.”

  
After getting his food plated Ranboo nervously pushed the food around with his fork as Philiza and Techno bantered. His thoughts lost on everything he could remember that happened during the day’s earlier carnage.

  
Noticing Ranboo being spacey, Technoblade reached over and snapped his hooves in front of his face. “Earth to Ranboo,” he said as he snapped startling Ranboo in the process. “Can you actually unhinge your jaw, y’know like an enderman?” Technoblade asked before taking another bite off his fork.

  
“Uh… I-” Ranboo started to reply before Philiza interrupted him.

“Oh my God, Techno, you can’t just ask whether or not someone’s jaw unhinges like an endermans!”

  
“What it's not like everyone else here wasn’t thinking the same thing and the voices won’t stop bugging me about it,” Technoblade replied while rolling his eyes.  
Waving his hands in surrender Ranboo said “whoa, whoa, its okay Philiza, really. I get questions like this all the time, really it's no big deal. I uh the answers yes. I can.”

  
Technoblade banged a hoof on the table before gesturing at Philiza, “see I told you it wasn’t a big deal!”

  
“Here, I’ll uh, I’ll uh show you,” Ranboo said, picking up his fork and stabbing some food. As he brought it up to his mouth and it began to open Techno made a heh of surprise. Ranboo’s face below his lip seemed to split apart revealing an open toothy maul as he quickly ate the fork full of food before quickly closing his mouth.

  
“Bruhhhhhh, I’m not gonna lie that is kind of sick,” Technoblade stated as Phil’s mouth just kind of gaped open in amazement.

  
Ranboo put one hand on his own shoulder and squeezed it to reassure himself as he looked away. “That's definitely one way to describe it,” he murmured in reply.  
Both Philza and Techno opened their mouths to start reassuring Ranboo it was the cool kind of sick but before either could utter a word a knock echoed through the house.

  
Everyone fell silent and set perfectly still for a moment before another knock rang out. At the sound Technoblade slowly began to rise out of his chair. Silently drawing his sword as he started to creep towards the door both Phil and Ranboo’s eyes stayed locked on the door. The number of numerous threats that could be lurking behind the door started to rapidly run through everyone’s mind as thoughts of the days earlier events ran through their heads. Techno’s hoof finally slowly started to clutch the door’s handle and began to turn it. The door slowly opens a crack with a long drawn out screech. Technoblade peeking around the door lowered his sword before turning to Philza and Ranboo. “Its Dream..” he said as the door started to open behind him revealing a white mask with a smiling face that almost seemed to leer over his shoulder.

  
Ranboo felt his stomach drop and his eyes widen in fear. Oh.


	2. Reality Check

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As harrowing events that transpired earlier that day begin to melt away Ranboo had started to feel as if everything was going to be fine. A feeling which came to a crashing halt as soon as "It's Dream.." hit his ears. Its time for Ranboo to face the music that has been slowly swelling in the background. Its time to hear what else Dream has to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowee ya'll, I expected like two people to read this so I'm over the moon at the support! Thanks for all the comments and kudos it means a lot like more then I thought it would lmao <3 I now understand more of the fanfic writer memes 0^0

Ranboo immediately stood up from the table causing Philza to send him an odd look and follow suit. Thoughts running wild in Ranboos head he couldn’t quite remember why exactly just the sight of Dream made his hearts freeze in fear. The temptation to check his journal hung heavy in his head if only just to reassure himself he was with friends and that it would be okay. Derailing his train of thought completely, a memory flashed before Ranboo’s eyes, the green festival, dream having his journal, and everyone calling him a.. a traitor.

As Ranboo went over his thoughts, Technoblade stepped aside and sheathed his sword before letting dream in. “Hey Dream, finally come to take me up on that offer,” Techno asked.

Dream’s cold expression dropped and was replaced with confusion as he stepped through the door shutting it behind him. The light of the home now illuminating his intimidating visage. A otherworldly visage that would almost hurt to look at and that everyone seemed to see differently. Some claimed he just looked like a guy with a mask, others would say he appeared as a cute white blob, and with Techno often adamantly stating he looked like a weird green teletubby. No one was quite sure if anyone actually saw Dreams real face but one thing they could all agree on was that even in his oddest form he ingrained a strong sense of fear.

“What offer?? Techno what are you talking about,” Dream replied his tone laced with confusion.

“A place to stay? You're still homeless, right”, Technoblade said a teasing edge coloring his voice.

“WHAT, I’m not- Technoblade what the hell! I’m not homeless! I’m not! We have been over this, I’m not homeless,” Dream replied, dragging a hand down his face in irritation.

“Hey, whatever you say man, but the offer still stands if you ever want to take me up on it,” Technoblade said snorting slightly as he waved a hoof in the air nonchalantly. “I wouldn’t even count it as your favor,” he continued to tease.

“I’m not- ugh nevermind. Look, I didn’t come here to just chat,” Dream said, his tone suddenly starting to take on a more serious edge.

“Oh so this is just one of the regularly scheduled ominous drop ins,” Technoblade sighed before crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. “Make it quick, you're kind of interrupting dinner,” he finished raising one arm to gesture at the half eaten plates on the table.

“Fine,” Dream replied, rolling his eyes. “I need to talk to Ranboo…” he said pausing, a grin appearing on his face as his eyes met Ranboo’s.

Ranboo emitted a high pitched sound of distress that sounded reminiscent of an enderman’s call, his eyes momentarily meeting Dream’s gaze before darting away. Philza started to step closer to Ranboo, one of his wings raising defensively behind Ranboo. “Anything you have to say to him you can say in front of us,” Phil stated in a steely tone. Techno and Phil quickly exchanged a brief look as if to silently communicate.

“Anything you have to say to him you can say in front of us,” Techno reiterated putting a hand on his sheathed sword in a silent threat.

The eyes on Dreams mask seemed to narrow as he looked between Technoblade and Philza. He walked slowly closer to the table as if to not spook either into violence and leaned in slightly towards Ranboo. “Fine, I just wanted to return… this,” he said slowly pulling out a familiar book and waving it in the air.

Ranboo's eyes widened as his gaze traced the book's movement in the air. He reached across the table as if to grab it as Dream quickly held it out of Ranboo’s reach. “Is that the-”

“The original journal, your original journal, the one that showed how much of a traitor you really are. The one I gave Tubbo, yeah, it is,” Dream said cutting off Ranboo.

“How did yo- it was lost in the destruction of L’Manberg, ho-how did you manage to get it back..?” Ranboo asked with what little color he had in his face draining.

“Oh I have my ways but let's just say.. I found it in a.. Chest,” Dream replied, playfully tossing the book back and forth between his two hands.

“I.. I -but it..,” Ranboo trailed off as he went to reach across the table for the journal once more. Phil reached a hand up and squeezed Ranboo’s shoulder as his wing seemed to start to loom even more protectively behind Ranboo’s back. The reassuring gesture caused Ranboo to lower his hand to his side. “What.. what do you want, Dream?” Ranboo asked in a defeated tone as he brought his eyes to the floor.

“Nothing… for now,” Dream said as he stretched out the journal as if to finally hand it to Ranboo. “Lets just say you owe me one, how about that,” he offered.

“Uhhh Ranboo as someone that owes Dream a favor I wouldn’t recomm-” Technoblade started his gaze darting between dream and Ranboo.

“Deal,” Ranboo replied, cutting off and ignoring Techno. “It’s a deal,” he intoned as he snatched the journal from Dream’s hands.

Dream laughed a little to himself as Ranboo cradled the journal to his chest. “We’ll talk more later Ranboo..” he trailed off his gaze briefly moving between Technoblade and Philza. “Techno, Philiza,” He said nodding his head in respect, in their directions as he turned and left without another word.

Everyone seemed to release a sigh of relief in unison as the door shut behind Dream. Technoblade walked over to his window and peaked through the shutter. “Okay he’s gone,” said Techno. “I hate it when he does that he never just stops by to hangout or anything,” he started as he looked out the window. “I swear he could at least message me before dropping by. I know he knows the voices can’t track him. We may not get the best signal up here but it’s just plain rude and I would expect more of Dr...” he continued before trailing off as he turned around and saw how shaken Ranboo still looked.

Techno shot Philiza a quick glance of concern before walking over to Ranboo’s other side and offering him some quick pats on the back. “Uhh there, ther-look comforting isn't really my thing so if you're gonna have a brea-” Techno started.

Ranboo brushing both Phil and Technoblade away stepped around the table and towards the door. “Thanks for dinner, really, uh I think I’ve lost my appetite so I’m just gonna go ahead and turn in. If that's alright?” He said pausing by the door.

“Yeah of course Ranboo, but don’t you think we should ta-” Philza started in reply before the sound of a closing door cut him off. Returning his wings tightly to his back Phil brushed a few feathers down before turning to Techno.

Techno, who had already started setting back down in preparation to return to eating, met Phil’s gaze. “What,” he said at the look Philza was giving. “Well I’m not about to let all this go to waste… Oh come on,” he continued as Philza’s judging gaze intensified.

“Techno…” Phil said as he continued to bore his judging gaze into him

“Bruhhhh, first the voices now you,” Techno said before pausing as he and Phil continued their stare off. “FINE! Fine, fine, I’ll check on him later just give him some time to cool off, okay? Let's just finish eating first,” he finished gesturing to the food.

Philza rolled his eyes and set back down next to Techno. “See, that was so hard,” he asked, returning to his plate of food.

Crossing his arms, Technoblade replied, “Not all of us try to adopt every traumatized child we see Phil. You're honestly really lucky you're my friend Philza minecraft. I don’t fold for just anyone.”

Phil laughed while raising an eyebrow at Techno’s reply. “Oh really? You “don’t just fold for anyone, huh,” Philza teased.

Huffing at Phil’s tone Techno looked down at his plate of food and murmured, “fine, I might just be a little susceptible to peer pressure. BUT only a tinsy bit,” Technoblade finished before looking back up to meet Phil’s eyes.

“Yeah, okay, a tinsy bit,” Phil retorted as he thought back to what Techno had told him had happened at the red festival.

“Not everyone tries to adopt every traumatized child they see Phil,” Techno snorted between bites.

“Well, we never would have become friends if I didn’t have that habit would we,” Phil snapped. At the sight of Techno rolling his eyes Phil continued, “Someone has to help these kids, I mean where are their parents!?”

Shrugging in reply, Techno answered “I wasn’t exactly a child when we met Phil though as regrettable as you trying to treat me like one sometimes is, I’m glad we became friends. I also ask myself the same question everyday..”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranboo, head bent so he wouldn’t hit the ceiling, paced his room with both his journals laid out open on his desk. Under his breath he murmured to himself, “no I couldn’t have done that.. Why would I do something like that? I don’t do bad things.. but, what if I did it?” Ranboo paused a moment and warped his own arms around himself as if to try and calm himself. “Why can’t I remember if I did it…” he said, his voice starting to take on a more panicked edge as he walked over to a corner, his breath now coming in shallow gasps. Lowering himself to the ground he pulled his knees to his chest and put his face in his hands as he willed himself not to panic. Deep breaths just deep breaths he thought over and over again to himself.

While he tried to regain a grip a bunch of the hounds had seemed to notice his panicked state and had started to walk over. The feel of dogs nosing their way onto his sides and starting to climb all over him brought Ranboo back to the moment.

Huffing to himself Ranboo wiped a hand across his eyes and took a deep breath before running a hand across one of the dogs heads. “Thanks guys.. “ he mumbled, his voice still sounding a bit broken. As Ranboo petted the various dogs his thoughts turned to some of his own, recently departed, pets.Ranbone… Mr. Buzzy.. just gone with the rest of L’manberg. The thoughts brought tears back to Ranboos' eyes.

As if they sensed the increase in his distressed state several of the dogs started lickeing his face in an effort to comfort him.

“Stop.. Stopp,” Ranboo said with a slight laugh in his tone as he softly pushed the dogs away from his face Rubbing his eyes once more Ranboo started to stand back up. “I’ve got to get it together otherwise he wins…” he murmured to himself as he brushed the dog hair off his clothes.

Wading through the sea of dogs that now surrounded him Ranboo walked back over to his desk. Pausing a moment he looked at his newer memory journal and messily added techno’s hounds to his list of friends. A slight smile appeared on his face at the growing list before it fell as his thoughts plunged back into his current dilemma. “I.. couldn’t have done it right? Right,” muttered Ranboo as he used one hand to pull at his hair. “I would never.. but would I,” he questioned.

Letting go of his hair and placing both hands on a side of his desk Ranboo leaned over the two journals his eyes rapidly darting between the two. “Bu-..But it says I did it..” he murmured a manic gleam appearing in his eyes as he started at the open page of his old journal.” I don’t write down what I do though so how could it possibly be me.. Is this even my journal..? It can’t- no it has to be that’s my handwriting but why would I do that..”

“Do what, exactly, Ranboo?” Techno asked from over his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Philza is the guy that just asks is anybody gonna adopt that child and adopts it before anyone even gets out an answer.   
> I like the family dynamic thing with Techno but I don't see Phil as his dad. I still find it cute I just agree with Techno that it doesn't make much sense. I see him as more like an honorary brother in the sleepy bois inc. that Phil tried to adopt but failed and became friends with instead. Let me know what ya'll think!


	3. A Friendly Chat And A Sheepy Intermission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chat to calm the nerves and a friendly visit could be just what Ranboo needed or it could be just one more disaster to stress about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do ya'll have any preference for chapter length? I could take like longer and make the chapters a bit thicker or keep to how I'm currently writing it but I'd figured I'd ask what ya'll thought.

Ranboo jumped a little bit and spun around to greet Techno, “hey, Technoblade, I didn’t hear you come in, could you uh maybe knock next time..?” At the silent reply Technos passive stare Ranboo started sweating or well he would have if he could. After the pause continued to stretch on for another agonizing second Ranboo nervously started to ramble on “I mean if you don’t mind? I know it's like your place but I.. I uh, would really appreciate it..” 

Techno raised an eyebrow and shook his head, “jeez Ranboo calm down I’m not trying to interrogate you.” Walking over to Ranboos bed Techno took a seat and patted the spot next to him. “Come on, you can’t be comfortable standing in here the ceiling is barely high enough for me.” At Ranboos continued reluctance Techno barreled on, “I know I said I did bite earlier but I was joking. If we don’t have a least a little chat Phil will come out here and make us all have a real powwow. Those are never fun I can promise you that,” Technoblade said crinkling his snout in distaste at the idea of a real heart to heart. “I imagine it might go easier considering your well y'know you but I want you to just imagine all the forced talks with Tommy and Wilbur. The agony and suffering, Ranboo, absolutely unparalleled,” he finished dramatically throwing one hoof to his forehead.

Reluctantly the tension had drained from Ranboo’s shoulders as Techno had ranted on. “Yeah that does sound insufferable..” Ranboo replied, moving towards the bed to sit down.

“Oh you have no idea, Ranboo. Ranboo I’d rather duel dream another 10 times then sit through one of those again especially now..” Technoblade trailed off his tone seeming to darken towards the end. His recent fallout with Tommy no doubt playing back in his head.

The bed dipping as Ranboo took a seat seemed to shake Technoblade back into the present. Shaking his head slightly as if to clear his thoughts . “Now, what exactly did you do or think you did? I won’t force you to answer or anything. It's just better to be up front about everything in my experience,” Techno said his tone softening. As his thoughts drifted back to Tommy he added, “Not that doesn’t stop some people from betraying you anyways but I don’t think I have to worry about that with you Ranboo.”

Nervously trying to look anywhere but Techno’s eyes Ranboo replied, “You’re probably right Techno.. I want to tell you I just don't exactly know what I did if that makes sense? -no of course it doesn’t make sense.. I uh-it's just.. I mean I know in both my hearts that I wouldn’t but my journal says I did and I uh- I can’t remember if-”

“I’m gonna stop you right there Ranboo,” Techno cut in. “Just take a deep breath, it's not that big of a deal, you don’t have to make excuses with me whether you did whatever it is or not.” Techno placed a hoof on Ranboo’s shoulder as Ranboo took a deep breath. “I mean not to brag but I’m considered a war criminal and I blew up L’manberg twice. It couldn’t be worse than that in the eyes of the others right? Though I’d argue I freed the masses but it's whatever. Potato, potatoe y'know?” Techno paused for a second to think before continuing “wait no, actually Technoblade is always right and it is potato but you can’t fix stupid.”

Having calmed down at this point Ranboo just nodded before taking a deep breath and replying, “yeah, yeah okay…. I think I may have been the one that blew up the community house and uh help start a lot of other pretty.. bad things.” 

“Oh no, I was wrong that's so much worse,” Technoblade deadpanned, before bursting into laughter. At the sight of Ranboo’s face dropping into a frown, Techno's laughter died down. “Jeez, I’m kidding Ranboo I swear you're acting more touchy than Tommy does about Tubbo. If it makes you feel better I’m pretty sure you didn’t but what even made you think that you did?” Techno questioned his tone souring a bit as he said Tommys name.

“I uh, here I’ll show you,” Ranboo replied, jumping up from the bed nearly knocking his head on the ceiling in the process. Grabbing one of his journals off his desk he walked over and set back down before handing it to Techno. “Just read that page, uh please,” Ranboo said nervously as Techno began to examine the page.

Eyes widening Techno turned to Ranboo and dramatically declared, “Oh my god Ranboo I can’t read.” As Ranboos face started to twist in confusion Techno continued on before he could reply, “kidding, kidding, I may have dropped out of college but I can at least do that much.” Closing the journal and placing it in Ranboo’s lap, Techno said, “Don’t worry about it Ranboo you didn’t do anything." Standing up, Techno patted Ranboo’s shoulder one more time before starting to make his way to the door.

Gobsmacked, Ranboo stared after Techno, “What do you mean I didn’t do it??? That's my handwriting, I think.. I mean it matches it so it has to be!” Holding up the journal Ranboo pointed to the page as if to emphasize it was in fact probably his handwriting.

Technoblade stopped by the doorway and spun around, “Come on Ranboo, isn’t it obvious? I thought you were one of the few people who had sense on this server.” Freezing and falling silent for a second before abruptly continuing, “Even the chat picked up on it, c'mon Ranboo what do you think I’m getting at?”

Lowering his journal Ranboo paused for a second to think bickering under his breath to himself before finally replying. “I uh, I’m.. being played?”

Throwing up his hands Techno enthusiastically intoned, Exactly!! You’re being played, Ranboo. Played!!” Pausing a moment for emphasis Technoblade then continued on “I mean Dream walked in and gave it to you while being dramatic that is a hallmark of being played!! Your memory might be bad but I think you’d remember a little of that if it had happened. Dream may be my friend and I know everyone else lets him direct everything else on the server but he's homeless! Are you really gonna let a homeless man turn a trick on you like that?” Pulling the door open, Techno now stood on the threshold of the home. 

“I guess you're right I mean… I’d have to remember that or at least some of all that, right?” Ranboo paused to fidget for a second before weakly repeating “right..?”

“Right,” Technoblade reiterated before turning to look out the door. “Look, don’t tell anyone I told you this it would ruin my reputation.. but I like you Ranboo you’re a good guy don’t let Dream drag you into his games. He and I might be on good terms but I promise you once he drags you in you don’t get out.” Techno finished ominously before turning to look over his shoulder to meet Ranboo’s eyes with an intense stare. “Seriously don’t tell anyone I’d have to kill you.” Technos stern expression stayed for a second before dropping away, “I’m kidding but not really. Now I gotta go show the chat Karl so they’ll keep giving me money.” Taking one step out of the door Techno paused again before adding “Also just a heads up but Ghostbur might come stay awhile. He and Phil have some stuff to work so I hope you don’t mind a roommate. I mean this is kind of technically his house… Anyways remember to put your cloak on or don’t but this place isn’t the most insulated.” Waving a hand over his shoulder Techno quickly made his exit.

“Bye-and uh thanks I guess technoblade wait chat…? Ghostbur? And he's gone….” Ranboo said with the last of his words huffed under his breath as the sound of a door closing filled the room. Sitting his journal on his desk Ranboo slumped back down onto his bed and began to crawl under the covers. He doubted he would be able to sleep tonight after everything that had happened but he thought he’d at least try. Putting the torch out next to his bed Ranboo snuggled in to make himself comfortable and started to try to parse through all of his thoughts. It wasn’t long before Ranboo was shivering even with the furnace still going and the warm bedding. Technos words echoed through his head about the cloak and he reluctantly pulled it out of his inventory. Placing it over the covers Ranboo curled into a ball and tried to fall into some semblance of a sleep.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranboo slowly started to awake to the unsettling but faint feeling of being watched. A blurry figure that loomed over him gradually came into view as he became aware of his surroundings.

The figure asked, “Did you know you sleep with your eyes open?” At the sound of another’s voice everything snapped into focus causing Ranboo to jolt awake and hit his head in the process. Letting out a little yelp, Ranboos panic immediately dissipated at the sight as it became clear to him who his mystery visitor was. 

“Oh, I didn’t mean to scare you! I suppose ghosts are supposed to be scary but most people are just.. sad when they see me.. not scared.” Ghostbur trailed off for a second, a strange expression crossing his face.  
“Ghostbur..? What are you doing here,” Ranboo asked, rubbing the back of his head. A still disorientated look of confusion painted across his odd features due to his sudden awakening

As if a spell had been broken Ghostbur seemed to zone back into the moment at the sound of Ranboo’s voice “Hey Ranboo! You never answered me, did you know you sleep with your eyes open,” Ghostbur jollily asked with a slight tilt to his head.

“ Hey Ghostbur, I do know I sleep with my eyes open. I don’t have eyelids at least not in the conventional sense,” Ranboo replied in the type of tone you’d address a child with. “You never answered my question though, why are you here?”

“You don’t have eyelids? If it makes you feel better I don’t think I have eyelids anymore either,” Ghostbur said pausing and placing a hand on his chain as if he was lost in thought. “Do spectral eyelids count as eyelids? I wouldn’t think so after it's not exactly ephemeral like real eyelids, right? Much more static and a lot less physically present..”

“What- I nevermind.” Ranboo said dismissing Ghostburs rambling as he started to get out of bed. “Just tell me why you're here.” As Ranboo threw his legs over the beds edge a blue sheep greeted him by bumping him softly with its head and bahhing. “I see you brought Friend,” he muttered to himself giving the sheep’s head a pat.

“I came to talk to Phil about something..? I don’t quite recall but I’m sure he’ll remind me, Phil always remembers,” Ghostbur replied with a carefree grin.

“Oh yeah I’m pretty sure Techno mentioned you coming over last night.. I’m not the best at remembering things myself,” Ranboo stated as he continued to pet Friend.

“Don’t worry Ranboo! Not remembering can be a good thing.. mostly! You don’t have to think about the bad things if you forget they happened,” Ghostbur said, his tone sounding almost fake happy and a little bit strained.

“Yeah that's the problem,” Ranboo muttered quietly to himself as he shot a glance over to his journal. “Thanks Ghostbur, that does.. help,” he said a little louder and a little lamely.

The sound of a door opening snapped both of them out of their conversation as Philza entered the room. “Ghostbur, there you are! I told you not to wander off and to not-” Phil stopped abruptly and dropped to a quieter tone when he spotted the blue sheep “-not to bring Friend in here till I move the hounds.”

“Hey Phil! I was just talking to Ranboo, did you know he doesn’t have eyelids! I don’t have eyelids either,” Ghostbur replied with too much enthusiasm as he gestured to Ranboo.

An annoyed and baffled expression overtook Phils face before he pulled a hand across his face. “Wha- that's uh very interesting Ghostbur but could you please go back to Techno’s house,” Philza asked as he shot Ranboo a questioning look.

Before the conversation could go any further Techno barged into the room “Phil, Phil you gotta see the new val-” he said stopping at the look Philza was sending him. “Am I, uh interrupting something?”

“Lower your voice,” Philza began before the sound of barking and waking dogs interrupted “..or you’ll wake the hounds,” he finished. Several of the dogs immediately spotted the sheep and began to attack it. “Shit,” Phil shouted as what was about to happen sunk in.

Ghostlbur yelled and attempted to yank Friend away from his attackers but failed as Friend’s last bah’s sounded. “NO Friend,” Ghostbur shouted, reaching out towards the sheep as its drops fell to the floor. As he started to pull out his sword to avenge friend Techno let out a loud dog whistle causing the hounds to back away.

“Calm down Ghostbur, you don’t want to 1v50 this many dogs. You don’t even have armor on and I would prefer them and you alive. Alivish in your case but I think you get the point,” Technoblade stated before sending Philza an apologetic look. 

Ghostbur ignoring Techno had fallen to the ground, throwing his sword to the side to clutch the blue wool dropped by Friend. Silent spectral tears seemed to silently stream down his face.

“Oh for the love of-” Phil started to say before taking a deep sigh and walking over to squat next to Ghostbur. Putting a hand on his shoulder Phil rubbed a small circle on his back in an attempt to comfort him. “Ghostbur, remember what I told you about Friends lives,” Phil asked softly. Ghostbur merely sniffled and shook his head in reply. An irritated look quickly passed over Phil’s face before smoothing back into something more sympathetic and soft. “Friend has unlimited canon lives, Ghostbur, remember?” A weak nod was given in reply as Phil reached a hand out to Ghostbur. 

Taking Phil’s hand Ghostbur was pulled up to his feet as Philza stood up. “So he’ll respawn,” Ghostbur asked in a sorrowful tone as he looked to meet Phil’s eyes.

“Yes, he’ll respond just fine,'' Phil replied, reaching a hand to wipe away some of Ghostbur’s tears.

Flinching slightly Ghostbur continued, “but not like how I am, how I came back after you stabbed me? He’ll be alive, alive, right?”

Pulling his hand back and grimacing Phil muttered softly to himself “why do you always bring that up..?” A lot louder and with emphasis he continued on saying, “yes, Ghostbur he’ll be alive, alive.”

The sadness seemed to immediately melt away at Phil’s statement. “Well why didn’t you just say so,” he asked a smile returning to his face.

Phil just shook his head and sighed before turning his head to Technoblade. “Why don’t you go with Techno while me and Ranboo go find Friend’s respawn point to bring him back?” Techno made a face at Phil and opened his mouth as if to reply before quickly closing it at the sight of his expression.

“But I want Friend to see me first when he respawns so he won’t be afraid,” Ghostbur said, glancing between Techno and Philiza.

Technoblade broke his silent staring contest with a murderous looking Phil before saying, “but I have a uh surprise to show you.” Catching Philza’s gaze once more he said, “Yeah, a uh really big surprise.”

“A surprise, I love surprises, unless it's explosives.. I don’t think I like those,” Ghostbur replied, walking towards Techno and the door still clutching a single block of Blue wool.

“Now that's where I’m gonna have to disagree with you Ghostbur, explosive surprises are great..” Techno replied, his voice fading as he and Ghostbur walked out of the house.

Ranboo who had just awkwardly been standing there watching the whole drama go down turned to Phil. “Is it true what you said about Friends l-” he asked before Phil cut him off.

“No, just follow me, don’t ask questions and whatever you do, do not, tell Ghostbur.. ” Phil replied, pinching the bridge of his nose briefly before heading towards the door.

Wordlessly Ranboo followed after Phil as they both silently trekked quite a lot of blocks through the nearby snow covered woods. Phil suddenly stops by a pond before slipping into the water. Ranboo paused at the water as Phil ducked under before grimacing and reluctantly following after. A faint light was apparent through a small hole at the bottom as they approached what appeared to be some kind of entrance. Swimming through and popping up Ranboo took in a big gasp of air before turning to question Phil who had already pulled himself out of the water into the large cave. Ranboo seemed to swallow his question as he pulled himself out of the water and finally started to take in his surroundings. 

It was a cave full of sheep, not just any sheep, blue sheep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really a cliffhanger but I just think Philza constantly replacing Friend like people do with poorly taken care of goldfish is hilarious. I promise there is more plot/foreshadowing in this chapter then you think its just like bite sized.


	4. Lessons all Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo learns a little and Ghostbur learns a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is shorter and probably has a little more grammatical issues because I woke up around 4 and couldn't sleep so I spent what little free time I had mostly in a haze. I only went to bed at like 1 so only 3 hours which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't an ongoing pattern.

Taking in the cave, Ranboo observed the cramped space noting it’s, poor lighting, numerous sheep, and the singular chest present in one of the corners. The loud sound of bahing echoing throughout the chamber making it slightly hard to hear anything else “I take it Friends, not respawning..?”

Philza laughed for a moment as he shook the water off his wings, his feathers taking on a faint puff as a result. Taking a second to gently smooth his feathers back down before pulling them taunt to his back. “What exactly do you think,” he answered over the bah’s as he briefly gestured to the room before starting to dig through his inventory. Pulling a lead out he tossed it to Ranboo, “pick a sheep, any sheep.”

“I’ll take that as a definite no,” Ranboo replied as he caught the lead. Glancing around he scrutinized the nearby sheep for their similarity to the recently departed Friend. A lot of folks would claim that all mobs look the same but Ranboo knew better than most that it wasn’t true. Mobs just like people all looked a little different but it was especially noticeable if you really knew the mob as everything has some kind of tell. As he continued to scan the sheep Phil interrupted his thoughts.

“When I said any sheep I meant any sheep, you’re gonna go cross eyed staring at them like that,” Phil said flippantly as he walked over to the chest. Swinging the top open he rummaged through it before pulling out a book. “Trust me when I say Ghostbur of all people won’t be able to tell the difference,” he continued as he furiously wrote on one of the book's pages.

“I don’t see how he could not know the difference considering he always has Friend trailing behind him these days. Hasn’t he... also said that he and Friend are uh involved..,” Ranboo questioned as he patted the nearest sheep.

Phil abruptly closed the book with a deep sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose. “I try not to ask my sons about the finer details of their personal life if not for deniability then at least so I don’t have to really question where I went wrong.” Turning around to Ranboo, he pressed his lips into a thin line before adding “I wouldn’t however put it past him.. he and Sally were a thing after all…”

As he slipped a lead over a sheep’s Ranboo glanced over his shoulder at Phil. “Sally.. That sounds familiar.. Why does it sound familiar? Who’s Sally?”

“It's not exactly my story to tell but you probably have heard Fundy mention her. She was Fundy’s mom but more importantly is a salmon which is why I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s a bit of a posterboy for interspecies relationships.” Phil paused to laugh before adding, “I wouldn’t recommend bringing her up to Ghostbur or Fundy. Oh, and whatever you do just don’t mention salmon in general ever since her, he has had a bit of a thing for them? I don’t think I could handle that kind of conversation with Wilbur let alone Ghostbur not that there's too much difference in my eyes there. He’s still our Will after all..”

“I probably did hear it from Fundy.. but you don’t have to worry about me talking to him. We aren't on the best of terms anymore,” Ranboo replied, with a frown.”I’m not actually on the best of terms with many people these days..”

Walking over, Phil took the lead from Ranboos as he said. “You’re not missing anything by losing a friend like Fundy.. He has too much of the worst parts of his father in him even after everything…” Trailing off for a second Phil seemed to be lost in thought before shaking his head to himself and shooting Ranboo a smile. “Chin up, Ranboo, they might have branded you as a traitor but me and Techno have your backs now. You don’t even have to worry about our allegiances because the only ones that exist to us are to each other. People first right?”

“Yeah.. yeah. People first,” Ranboo replied, weakly returning the smile. Looking around at the rest of the sheep he abruptly changed the subject as if to diffuse the somber tone the conversation had taken on. “I do have one other question, why don’t you just find a regular sheep and dye it..?” He asked pausing to gesture at the large number of sheep. “This seems a bit overboard for a single sheep.”

Phil groaned, “That's what I did at first.. We’d just find a sheep dye it and claim it as a reincarnation/respawn but it just kept happening.” Pulling the book out that he had been scribbling in earlier he started to turn through its pages. “If anyone could manage to get in trouble even after death it’d be Wilbur.. He was quite something growing up but this is.. Well see for yourself,” Phil said as he finally stopped on a page before handing the book to Ranboo.

Taking a second to read the page Ranboo audibly gasped, “That many times? That MANY times?”

Nodding sagely, Phil replied, “I even wrote down all the causes and I still don’t know how he managed to do it. Ghostbur only technically noticed or witnessed three of the deaths and still firmly believes that Friend had unlimited lives. I’ve been very careful to keep it that way.” Reaching out a hand to Ranboo for him to give the book back Phil added. “I even snuck out when I was under house arrest to make sure he at least had a friend, at least one source of happiness.. He deserves it even after everything.. If not to make me feel a little better after what happened.” As Ranboo was just about to place the book in his palm, Phil grabbed Ranboos hands and yanked him down a little bit so that their faces were closer. “If you ever tell Wilbur any of this…” Phil held his gaze for a second before letting go and stepping back causing Ranboo to stumble slightly.

Bewildered by the sudden turn in Phil’s demeanor Ranboo remained speechless for a second before regaining his composure. “I uh don’t think you have to worry about that,” pausing nervously for a second he quickly added “with my luck I probably won’t even remember it so don’t worry about it.”

“Good,” Phil replied, with a satisfied smile at his answer. He put a nametag on the sheep then nodding to himself briefly before gesturing towards the water, “Now help me get this ‘Friend’ into the bubble-vader.”

The two eventually trekked back through the perilous tundra and towards Techno’s cottage. The journey went smoothly with them only having to backtrack to get another sheep once after an unfortunate encounter with a creeper, a record according to Philza.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They could hear them before they even made it out of the woods which was never a good sign.Two distant figures stood not far from the front of Techno’s cottage. The taller figure held something above the others head as they desperately reached for it while clawing at them while shouting. The taller figure that held the item out of reach pushed the other off them causing them to fall and stagger back. The person on the ground seemed to crawl back as the figure who pushed them down started to loom forward, towards them.

The attack of the Butcher Army flashed through Phils eyes at the sight of a conflict so close to Techno’s home causing a panic to set in. Pushing the lead into Ranboo’s hand Phil shouted, “TECHNO, GHOSTBUR,” before dead sprinting towards the fight. Ranboo followed slightly slower as he dragged Friend along.

All of the shouting became clearer as the two approached along with the silhouettes of the unknown attackers. As they came into view Phil suddenly slowed his sprint then stopped causing Ranboo to run into his back nearly knocking him over in the process. “Wha-” Ranboo started to ask before a distant voice interrupted.

“Philza’s here, POG!!” shouted the taller, now waving figure, who upon closer inspection appeared to be techno. “Come control your feral child, Phil, he's attacking me,” he continued to yell while pointing to the other figure. Taking advantage of Techno letting his guard down Ghostbur jumped up and tackled him.

“Jesus Christ,” Phil said before reaching up to clutch his chest. “They almost gave me a fucking heartattack.” Picking back up at a much less expedited speed with Ranboo following suit the two eventually reached the front of Techno’s house to the sight of an almost comical scene.

At the sight of the two fighting Ranboo stepped a little bit behind Phil and covered the Sheep's eyes.

The two were quite a sight with Techno covered in dirt and a slight tear on his cloak, and Ghostbur’s face was uncharacteristically full of anger. A discarded sword laid a few feet away in the snow. Technoblade had Ghostbur in a headlock while he flailed in an attempt to get free. “Why’d you do it Techno..? Why’d you do it,” Ghostbur yelled as he tried to escape.

“Uh I plead the fifth,” Techno replied, trying to re-orientate his hold to better restrain the still struggling Ghostbur.

“What in God's name is going on here,” Phil asked as he crossed his arms and looked at the two expectantly.

Techno immediately shoved Ghostbur away before saying “he started it!” Stumbling backwards but now free Ghostbur jumped forward in an effort to successfully tackle Techno. Hitting his mark this time he brought Techno to the ground where the two resumed their struggle.

“Stop it,” Phil snapped at them. At the lack of a response from them he raised his voice, “I SAID STOP it!”

The two paused, Ghostbur sitting on Technoblade's chest, a punch pulled back in preparation to hit him. Techno had one arm gripped on Ghostbur’s shoulder as though he was about to push him back. “I can expla-” Techno started as Ghostbur interrupted.

“When were you going to tell me he completely destroyed L’manberg!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know he was already told about the destruction but much like that particular Friend sheep dying in Phil's house during it he forgot again. Its not the best memory so who could blame him for letting it go?


	5. THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bottled up emotions finally spill over causing unsaid words to finally fall free. Ranboo's just kind of there, until things take a turn for the worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I had picked out two potential titles, one that was real dramatic and another that added to a recurring theme. I decide to just say fuck it because this one is funnier to me also the entire chapters dramatic enough. Insomnia was also keeping me up again so I slammed most of this out last night then the rest of it quickly over breakfast. I looked it over pretty well but one of the typo's I found was "heavy burritos moth" which had somehow autocorrected from the misspelled phrase "heavy breathing almost" so please me know if you see any errors!

Ghostbur’s words rang out causing a faint echo to move across the Tundra as he finished his declaration. The soft sound of whirling wind falling snowflakes, and heavy breathing almost seemed to lull to a sudden silence in response. “Why didn’t you tell me Phil,” Ghostbur asked, his usually opaque and dead eyes starting to take on a more lively gleam. “Why. Didn’t. You. Tell. Me...”

Phil opened his mouth to start and reply but was quickly interrupted by Technoblade rolling Ghostbur off of him. Pulling himself up into a defensive stance Techno looked over to Phil, “you told me you had talked about it with him… Bruhhhhh, I could have just not brought it up had I known you were planning to keep him in the dark but, no! I was cluelessly bragging about it because anarchy, am I rite? Not to mention how long could a ghost need to process news like that! He's dead!” Moving his gaze back to Ghostbur he continued, “he might be a ghost but he’s punches aren’t exactly spectral or dodagable when you don’t know they're coming!!” Throwing hands up in annoyance Techno added a frustrated, “not very poggers, Phil, not at all.”

Grimacing and gritting his teeth Phil’s eyes nervously darted between Techno and Ghostbur before briefly settling on Ranboo’s for support. In reply Ranboo just kind of shrugged before looking away and pressing his hands tighter over Friends eyes.  
Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes Philza steadied himself for a second before finally settling his attention on just Ghostbur. “Look Will, I know your ma-”

“Mad?” Ghostbur paused to laugh, “Mad.. I’m more than mad, this is the first time I can even remember feeling fury…” he trailed off his tone changing from angry to somber as he talked. The surrounding wind seemed suddenly swell in strength as faint snowflakes started to fall. “I can’t even remember why it hurts so much to hear even with all the good memories..” Ghostbur turned his gaze to the ground before looking back up to meet Phil’s eyes, his own expression full of open sorrow. The now heavier snowfall started to hit him; it seemed to evaporate a small bit of steam drifting off of Wilbur at its impact. “It's like listening to an unfinished song. The last notes leave you blue and it just comes off feeling wrong… It feels so wrong, Phil, Techno. Why does it hurt so bad to know it's finally really gone? Why does it hurt,” he questioned his voice breaking at the end as he moved his hands up to pull at his lifeless hair.

Ranboo who had been averting his eyes looked over at Phil while letting out an enderman’s sound of distress before quickly looking away again.

Phil’s pained look melted into something more sorrowful as he watched his son fall apart so easily right in front of him. He knew he hadn’t been the most present lately but it was so hard to be around Ghostbur with how different he was. He couldn’t bear being around him and knowing that he was the one that dealt the final blow. Turning his gaze momentarily back to Techno as he said, “I did tell him.. well I did tell him most of it.” Glancing back over at Ghostbur he started walking cautiously over to him as he rattled on. “You just don’t remember, you never remember when it hurts Wilbur, not anymore.” Carefully placing a hand on his son's shoulder, Phil softened his tone “Things changed, L’Manberg changed.. for the worst. Everything escalated after I had to kill you the tyranny started to reach new levels. He-” Phil paused shooting Technoblade a look before correcting himself, “-we couldn’t let it continue. Whatever good your legacy left, it died with you Wilbur.”

The cold seemed to intensify at Phil’s word and as Ranboo shivered he suddenly wasn’t quite sure if it was just the snow causing the frigid drop in temperature.

Taking a moment to take the words in silver tears started to well up at the corner of Ghostbur’s cloudy eyes.”We..? You helped him destroy L’manberg,” he asked, yanking harder at his hair in frustration. “Did any of it matter.. If L’manbergs gone and nothing good I ever did even mattered then why am I still here..? Why..” Letting go of his hair and lowering his hands to his side Ghostbur looked over his shoulder at Phil. “I-I don’t want to ex-.. I don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t want to remember, I can- I can’t do it..”

Squeezing his shoulder in an attempt to comfort Ghostbur, Phil moved his free hand to his inventory. Pulling out a piece of bright blue dye he pressed it into Ghostbur’s hands. “It's okay Wilbur, we won’t make you. You don’t have to, you don’t have to remember,” Philza emphasized pulling Ghostbur into a hug as his wings wrapped around the both of them. One of his wings pulling up slightly over Wil’s head as if to block him from the snowfall which seemed to be picking up.

Ghostbur returned the hug fiercely for a second as he shook with sobs before reluctantly pushing Phil away. “I-need.. I need to go think,” he said using one of his sweater sleeves to wipe his eyes. “Don’t wait up,” he murmured as he turned to Techno’s house.

Techno, Ranboo, and Phil stood staring after Ghostbur as he made his way to the lower doors. Opening one and slamming it as he entered, Ghostbur, disappeared from view without evening turning around or hesitating.

“Great, now he's gonna broad in my basement for a week and lower the property value. Squatters and ghosts aren’t exactly prime real estate material,” Technoblade said, still staring at the door.

Philza shoot Techno an annoyed look, “Your an anarchist why would you care about propert-” Pausing to shake his head his tone suddenly became harsher, “no, no your not gonna do this right now Techno.”

“ Do what exactly?” He teasingly replied. You gotta realize nations pop up like weeds around here and I won’t always be able to fight. I gotta have back up plans, Philza Minecraft,” Techno finished.

Phil’s wings seem to puff up slightly at Techno’s tone as he turns to step closer. “THAT! You're not gonna do that.,” he said stepping closer. “You're not gonna try and defuse the situation or derail it with one of your tangents.” Poking Techno in the chest as he talked his wings now raised slightly behind him, his stance tense.

Raising his hooves in defeat, Techno replied, “Fine, fine go ahead crucify me for trying to defuse your mess. I never hide anything, you're the one that didn’t tell him the whole truth and yeah he might forget it all by tomorrow but he deserves to know. You fucked up not me.” Pausing Techno narrowed his eyes and leaned into Phil’s space. “But what do I know right? I’m just the Blade violence is more of my language after all.” Stepping out of Phil’s space and turning on his heels Techno started to walk away. Abruptly stopping for a second, Techno looked over his shoulder. “I’m not mad Phil, but fix your shit, or don’t it makes great content. Just whatever you do, don't take it out on me... I’ll be in the nether, message me if you need anything,” He finished before disappearing into the now raging snow storm.

Phil hung his head, and his wings slumped behind him as Techno disappeared into the distance. The quiet sound of now howling wind once again reigning over the harsh landscape in place of yelling voices.

Releasing his hands from over Friend's eyes, and nervously shuffling his feet, Ranboo looked back and forth between the ground and Phil. Forcing himself to settle his gaze on Phil Ranboo cleared his throat before asking, “uh, Philza.. are you okay?” Lead still in hand He shuffled over closer to Phil whose face still held a grim expression.

“No… no I’m not,” Phil replied looking up to meet Ranboo eyes with his red rimmed ones. Sorrow painted firmly on his face he continued, “I don’t think we’v-I’ve been in a while.”

Internally panicking at the reply Ranboo mentally ran through all the ways he knew to offer comfort, all of them seemingly falling short. “Do you.. need a hug,” he asked, stretching his arms open as an invitation.

Not even bothering to reply Phil seemed to dart over with inhuman speed to fall into the hug.

“Oof,” Ranboo huffed at the impact as he wrapped his arms around Phil in response.

“I.. don’t know where I went wrong with him, Wilbur, and even with.. Tommy. What did I do wrong.. I’m a terrible father,” Phil muttered under his breath as he squeezed Ranboo.

“You're a good dad even if you don’t think so.. I don’t exactly remember my parents but if I could I’d want them to uh.. be like you,” Ranboo replied as he patted Phil’s back in an attempt to comfort him.

Pulling back out of the hug he met Ranboos' gaze with an intense one, snowflakes starting to stick to his hair and eyelashes. “Really?” he responded.

Noticing the tears starting to appear again in the corners of Philza’s eyes Ranboo replied, “I-uh yeah, really.”

Fiercely pulling Ranboo back into a hug in response he muttered a soft thank you by Ranboo’s ear. Taking a step back out of the embrace Phil sniffled a little, “jesus, I’m sorry Ranboo.. I haven’t gotten this emotional in years…” Wiping the back of his hand over his eyes as if to clear his tears he glanced away. “I think I’m going to go for a walk… I need to clear my head.”

“It's fine, really, and a-a walk? It's practically a blizz-” Ranboo started before closing his mouth as he noticed Phil already walking away. “Uh be safe I guess,” he called after him as he disappeared into the storm. Looking down at the sheep he muttered, “I guess it's just me and you, Friend..” Pausing a moment to glance over towards Techno’s house he continued, “we should go check on Ghostbur..”

Standing still for another moment with only the now howling wind to answer, Ranboo took a deep sigh, and started towards the home. Shivering slightly as he approached the doors he knocked softly, before cracking one of them open slightly. “Ghostbur.. It's just me- uh just Ranboo, oh, and Friend. This might be a dumb question but are you.. okay,” he asked as he entered.

Ghostbur hovered in the corner his usually pained smile twisted into an extremely pained frown. Clutching the blue dye Phil gave him tightly he tilted his head as he looked at the two who entered. “Friend..” he said weakly, opening his arms.

Ranboo dropped the lead so that Friend could move towards Ghostbur if he wanted but he just kind of stood there letting out a bah. “Uh awkward..” he muttered very quietly under his breath as he tried to subtly push the sheep in Ghostbur’s direction.

Friend finally being close enough Ghostbur his arms around his neck and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. Bahing in comfort or maybe pain the sheep struggled a little in response.

“I’m just fine, Ranboo, no problem at all- everything is great,” Ghostbur said weakly trying to put on a smiling face but failing miserably.

Grimacing at Ghotbur’s obvious pain as he closed the door behind him he asked “are you uh sure about that, Ghostbur?”

“You know I uh, think I might just go Ranboo. . yeah I think I’m going to just not exist for a while. I gotta go.. Ranboo.” Ghostbur said as his already semi-transparent form seemed to flicker.

“What don-” Ranboo started to reply as Ghostbur cut him off with a, “yeah.. I'm just gonna go..” before flickering once more then disappearing completely.

Friend bahed in confusion at the disappearance of the Ghostbur and at his newfound freedom from his embrace. Shooting Ranboo a look of confusion the sheep let out a long bahhh.

“Me too, friend, me too,” Ranboo replied, walking over and giving Friend a pet. After petting the sheep for a few moments he moved over to the latter to go up towards Techno’s main room. As he started to climb up he looked down at the sheep. “I guess it's just you and m-”

Cutting him off as his head peaked into the next room a familiar voice said, “not quite.”

Jumping a little as he looked over at the figure sitting at Techno’s table. “Dr-Dream,” he asked, confused and fear coloring his tone. Fully pulling himself into the next room Ranboo’s eyes meet the blank stare of Dreams mask.

“Hello.. Ranboo. I think it's just about time for me and you had another talk… alone,” he said drawing out the letters as he stood up from the chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >;))) Thinking of making a Tumblr side blog for my writing cause I definitely found a new hobby/obsession in it which is nice because I think I finally beat all the joy I could outta my previous ones since we've all been stuck inside and at work... Lmk what ya'll think


	6. Breakthroughs and Beatdowns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New plans start to manifest as the sins of older ones stalk the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally was planning to post this tomorrow but I figured I'd go ahead and throw it up cause "anarchy, ya know?" I probably won't post tomorrow unless I really want to write which could happen. I always thought going out to "create your own content" would be to time consuming and boring but I'm having fun so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Walking through the snow covered woods Phil struggled forward against the wind. Using his wing to block the bulk of the snowfall as he shivered at the cold that hung heavy in the air. Picking up the eye of ender he threw it up into the air once more before continuing to follow after. It drifted past the trees to the shoreline and then over the water.

As the eye of ender hovered above the ocean before dropping, Phil silently pumped his fist to the air briefly in celebration at finding it. Pausing on the shore, Phil braced himself before plunging into the cold water down. Mining through the visible stone bricks went slowly, the fridge water chilling him to his core. Clearing a small opening through the bricks Phil was sucked in with water to the dark chamber below.

Attempting to gain his bearings he stood up and waded out of the water now streaming into the fortress. Squeezing his cape out and attempting to shake some water off his soaked form, Phil sneezed miserably. It had taken him long enough to get here especially in the harsh weather.. He really missed being able to fly he thought to himself as he absent mindedly reached a hand back to his wings. The places where he had endured the most damage had mostly healed up but the scars could still be felt and he often still experienced a flash of pain if he moved the wrong way. If anyone was to look closely enough some feathers appeared to still be singed.

Pulling a torch out of his pack he quickly lighted it and examined the narrow hall he had fallen into. The dust was numerous and seemed to float slowly around the cold hallway as distant sounds of groaning and rattling bones sounded. Taking a deep breath Phil drew his sword with his free hand and started to walk forward.

Cautiously looking around each corner he started to search for a library, it had to have one, they all did. He had already checked various temples, pyramids, and ruins; this was his last ditch effort to find it as being found in the forbidden structure would be a death sentence.. Starting to get lost in his thoughts at the prospect of failure he didn’t hear the skeleton as he turned another corner. Nearly running face forward into it he yanked his head quickly to the side as an air shot past where it had last been. Using his wing he stretched it forward knocking the skeleton aside causing it to drop its bow. Throwing his sword he nailed it in the head causing it to collapse into a pile of bones but before he could catch his breath he heard a high pitched groan sound from the darkness. His eyes widened at the sound his hardcore death flashing through his head. Swiping the bow off the ground in a fluid fashion he turned and shot at the baby zombie as it ran towards him from the darkness. Hitting it square on with not two but three rapid fire shots it's small half rotten form slumped to the ground at his feet. Huffing to himself as the adrenaline still ran through his veins he silently thanked whatever god was listening for having forgotten to put his arrows in his enderchest earlier.

Taking a deep breath Phil leaned up against the wall for a second his heart still beating quickly from being caught so off guard. After catching his breath he walked slowly over to the fallen skeleton where his sword stood embedded into its head. Stepping on it with one foot he grabbed the swords hilt and ripped it out, crushing the skull with his foot in the process.

Moving forward Phil proceeded more carefully before finally finding a room filled with aisles of shelfs and various chests. Lighting the room with torches just in case before he proceeded to kneel in front of one of the nearby chests.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Digging through a chest in the dimly lit bookshelf filled room Philza tosses various tomes over his shoulder in frustration. “Come on.. come on,” he mutters to himself carefully reading another book’s cover before throwing it aside. Letting out a groan of frustration he stood up and started to pace back and forth between the chest and a nearby shelf. He had been there for what felt like hours searching and with only a signal bookshelf left his hope was starting to grow thin.

Quickly making his way through the last shelfs contents with no avail, Phil placed his face in his hands. Staying frozen in place for a second he suddenly moved lighting fast and turned over a nearby shelf. “God, this just can’t be it.. There has to be something, he yelled in frustration through gritted teeth.

Over the next few minutes he proceeded to completely wreck the room in rage before calming down enough to look at all the damage he had caused. Phil stood there for a second a feeling of loss overcoming him. He would never be able to undo what he’d done, the damage was really final… As he started to slump to the ground in defeat he spotted something out of the corner of his eyes. There was a hole in the wall half covered by a fallen shelf, he hadn’t noticed it in his fit of rage. Navigating carefully for the wreckage he approached the stone walls crevice. As he advanced it he snatched up a close by torch, one of which he had placed on the ground earlier. Raising the light up to the opening he could see a large object shoved way back into the hole.  
Phil remained on high guard as he reached down into the crevice and wrapped his hand around the soft surface. Slowly pulling the object out it became clear that it was a thick tome wrapped in well weathered leather with an odd design on its spine.

Opening the book with excitement released a puff of dust into Phil’s face causing him to sneeze. Clearing the dust out of the air with a wave of his hand before staring down at the page, his eyes darting across taking it all in.

A smile rose to Phils face, he had really found it.. He could finally have a chance to change everything.. to make it right..

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hauling his nether run goodies behind him, Technoblade talked to the air as if someone was there. “My house? What’s happening at my house?.. It’ll be fineeee. I’m almost there,” he said waving a hoof dismissively. Nearing the peak of the last hill before his house everything started to come into view.. At the sight of his cottage he felt his hair stand up, something wasn’t right. The windows were dim and the fire was out, not necessarily unusual, but it all just felt off. He paused to sniff the air, his snout crinkling and eyes widening at what he found. Dropping his haul abruptly, Techno burst into a mad sprint towards his home.

Fumbling only once as he went through the snow and wind, Techno deftly made his way to his house, his hooves seeming to barely make a sound as he approached. As he reached the side of his house he leaned against the building and pulled out his sword. Trying to listen quietly his ears twitched in irritation as he was unable to make out the muffled sounds coming from the interior.

Placing his sword in his mouth he hefted himself up onto the top of the side stable attached to his home. The sound of a loud slam from within caused him to startle and nearly lose his footing as he creeped towards his window. Muffled voices grew louder for a second then another slam sounded this time causing the building to vibrate slightly.

Grabbing the windows frame Techno threw it open and rolled into the house in one swift motion or at least he tried too. His leg got caught on the ledge causing him to face plant onto the floor. Disorientated by the Technoblade quickly sprung up claiming, “I totally meant to do that, totally meant too.” Finally able to get a good view of the room it looked like a slight struggle had occurred, and two dark figures towards the end of the room away from the fireplace.

One of the figures held the other up against the wall by the lapels of their clothes the other appeared to struggle in their hold. The figure turned its head towards techno, the faint bit of moonlight coming through the window catching his face as he did to reveal a smiling mask. “Techno.. Glad to see you could join us,” he said tilting his head.

“Dream,” Techno questioned, as he lowered his sword slightly but not completely. His eyes had finally adjusted to the interior’s darkness. He saw that the other figure was Ranboo with the dark side of his face appearing to be paler than he’d ever seen it. As the situation sunk in, Techno started to sweat a little, “uh.. let's not do anything rash Dream.” Relifting his sword in a silent threat as he adjusted his position nearly ready to pounce.

Laughing Dream said, “lower the sword, Techno, you're not going to do anything. You owe me a favor, remember?” Turning back towards Ranboo he lifted him up slightly higher before continuing. “Not that I’m calling it in… After all we were just having a friendly conversation, weren’t we Ranboo?” He slammed him against the wall causing Ranboo to grunt and grimace in response.

Techno narrowed his eyes as he lowered his sword. “This doesn’t exactly look like a ‘friendly chat’,'' he said using his hooves to air quote for emphasis as he said friendly chat.

“What was that thing you said about violence?? Something about it being the only universal language,” Dream said pausing a moment before continuing. “I guess you could say we’re just talking, speaking it.”

“Hey! You can’t use my own words against me, they're basically copyrighted at this point,” Techno replied, placing a hand on his chest in mock offense. “Just let him go.”

“We were just finishing up anyways,” Dream said. Slamming Ranboo into the wall one last time Dream leaned his head next to Ranboo’s ear and whispered, “remember what I said.” Finally dropping Ranboo Dream started to head towards the door without even shooting either another glance.

Ranboo who at this point seemed to be on the edge of hyperventilating just stood leaned up against the wall almost in shock.

Pausing in the door frame as he opened it Dream looked over his shoulder to meet Techno’s eyes. “Now, I’d love to stay and catch up, Techno, but I only have time for Ranboo today. I’ll come and ‘talk’ to you some other time when I need too,” he finished before slamming the door as he exited.

“You do realize that's the type of stuff villains sa-, and he's gone,” Techno yelled after Dream trailing off towards the end.

Ranboo flinched in response to the slam while Techno finally sheathed his sword and rushed over to him. “Are you oka-wait don’t answer that, stupid question,” Techno said putting a hand on s should his as if to comfort him. Flinching once again Techno pulled his hand away if burned. “Uh.. come have a seat I’ll get a fire started and get you a blanket.. They give those to people to help soothe them, I think.” Guiding Ranboo over to a chair, Techno took off his cloak and put it over his shoulders. “I’m pretty sure all the spare blankets are over where you’re staying or Phil put it somewhere. The consequences of having guests truly never ends so this will have to do but I want it back after as already gave you my only other cloak.”

Ranboo just stared at the ground and nodded mutely in reply. Techno quickly stoked a fire before taking a seat at the table. “I hate to question you after all that but.. what did he want,” he questioned with the taller figure once again answering with the shake of his head.

“I can’t help you if you don’t let me Ranboo,” Techno said while pinching the bridge of his nose. “It didn’t have to do with the favor, did it?

“No,” Ranboo replied in a distant tone as he pulled the cloak tighter around his shoulders. “It didn’t have to do with the favor, but I can’t say,” he continued, making a pained face as he looked up to briefly meet Techno’s eyes.

“What do you mean you can’t say? It's not like he's omniscient, he won’t check the VODS.” Techno scoffed in reply.

As Ranboo opened his mouth to answer the door flung up an ice covered and soaked Philza busting through the door with a book in hand.

“Techno, Ranboo, what are your thoughts on resurrection?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm I wonder what Dream told Ranboo.. guess we will never know ;) Also opinions on how I write actions/movements??? I don't know what I'm doing ya'll I'm a more of a stem kid then creative writing/english kid.


	7. Gathering Thoughts And Breaking Bread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment any answer is found another problem always seems to be revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a hard time writing this chapter because I had two different ways I was considering going. The character I was originally wanted to bring in I don't know how to write yet. I mean I didn't do a ton of research with Phil and Ranboo till later but I figured I'd try and put it out rightish from the get go. Also I had no idea how to summarize this chapter so the summary is pretty weak compared to the rest of it.

The excited manic looked in Phil’s eyes began to melt away as he took in the grim mood of the room. “You’ve got to be shitting me, what happened,” he asked, lowering the book and pushing the door shut behind him.

Raising a hoof Techno replied, “I’d first like to preface this with the fact that I didn’t instigate anything this time. Secondly, necromancy Phil, really?”

“You commit murder and acts of terrorism all the time but you’re telling me you draw the line at necromancy?” Phil questioned with a slight laugh as he walked over and took a seat across from Techno.

“I might not be the most ‘moral’ pig but come on, even I have to have some standards, Philza Minecraft,” Techno said with a roll of the eyes. “As intriguing as your question is we have more important things to talk about,” he continued gesturing a hoof over to the seemingly spaced out Ranboo.

Taking in Ranboo’s disheveled appearance and distant look, Phil’s expression dropped. “was it D-” he began to ask before Ranboo cut him off.

“It was,” he stated in an uneven tone without meeting Phil’s or Techno’s eyes. “It was Dream.”

“We shouldn’t have left you alone..” Phil said frowning before his expression began to darken. “What did that fuck want.”

Techno took a deep sigh and tapped a hoof on the table before briefly shooting Ranboo a look. “That's what I was trying to figure out before you came in but Ranboo isn’t sharing and not even the voices know,” he said.

“This is so scuffed,” Phil muttered before turning slightly towards Ranboo. “Is that true? Why can’t you tell us.. he didn’t threaten you did he!?”

Ranboo grimaced and fidgeted in his seat for a second before replying, “Threaten is a strong word but he did firmly encourage me to keep a few things to myself. I promise it’s nothing too big but I can’t tell you. I know it's a lot to ask as you guys haven’t exactly had the best experience with trusting people.. especially recently but I need you to trust me on this one,” his tone taking on a pleading edge towards the end.

Techno and Philza exchanged a glance of uncertainty between each other as if having a silent conversation. “Fine, fine,” Techno said breaking eye contact first. “I like you Ranboo so I’ll trust you but this is the only chance you’ll be given. I’ve let myself be played way too many times. As many views as it may garner its not worth the hurt of being used,” he said as previous back-stabbings ran through his head. “One chance, Ranboo, one chance, he finished raising a hoof in the air as if to mime one. “Don’t make me regret it.”

Philza nodded in approval at Techno’s words before turning back towards Ranboo. “We’ll trust you but I hope you realize you can come to us about anything. Our only loyalties lie in each other and both of us have spilled our fair share of blood for those we care about.” Pausing a moment to laugh he added, “its honestly us against the fucking server at this point.”

A weak and watery smile came to Ranboo’s face at the two’s words. “Thanks guys.. I know I haven’t historically had the strongest backbone in conflicts but you guys have given me a side worth fighting for. I hope you all know that I have your backs too.”

Standing up from his chair Techno said “alright, alright enough of all the heart to hearts it's gonna give me a rash.” Putting a hoof out towards Philza he continued, “did you have something to show us?”

Tracking Techno’s gaze to the book he still held in his hand Phil nodded. “I may have found a solution to our Ghostbur problem.” At the sight of Techno doing a grabbing motion with his hoof Phil tossed the heavy book to him.

Catching the book Techno stared down at its cover and read aloud, “Necromancy for Dummies.” Taking a moment to flip through a few pages before closing the book. A huff escaped his lips as he shot Phil a bland look. “You’re joking right? I know that's usually my thing but this is a joke, isn’t it?” Tossing Phil back the book before crossing his arms as he awaited a reply.

“I’m not joking! Why the hell would I joke about this,” Phil said with a scowl. “This could be my chance to make things right with Wil.. He might have lost it towards the end but he was my son.”

“We don’t know that bringing him back would do anything. He could come back crazy, wrong, or angry. All of those terrible memories coming back to haunt him rather than him being able to haunt everyone else. How well do you think that exchange would go over,” Techno asked.

“He’s my son Techno, you wouldn’t understand,” Phil replied in a pained tone.

Anger suddenly clouded Technoblade's face as banged a hoof on the table. “Why Phil, because I don’t know what it's like to have a family?? Because you’re the _only_ person that cares about Wilbur?”

“Techno, shit, you know that's not what I me-” Philza started to reply before he was cut off. 

“I trained him and Tommy how to fight! They're like brothers to me, you don’t think I don’t want him back,” Techno questioned.

“Then why don’t you want to at least try and bring him back? You’ve seen what Ghostbur’s like, it's not as if he isn’t already in bloody pain,” Phil retaliated.

Throwing his hooves up in irritation, Techno replied, “I don’t think it will work and he wanted to die. If anything we should at least respect that and if it does work it won’t magically fix you and his problems. You’ll still bump heads and it certainly won’t change the fact that you were the one that killed him.” 

Phil let out an audible gasp before both of them started to argue in earnest, both voices drowning the other out. As both of them continued to raise their voices in anger Ranboo let out a loud enderman sounding scream to silence them. 

Taking advantage of their surprise Ranboo used the opening to say, “guys, GUYS stop! 

Gaining their bearings after the sudden outburst they both turned and snapped in unison, “What?!”

“Ghostbur’s gone.”

“Hehhhhhh,” Techno sounded in surprise before falling silent in shock.

“What do you mean Ghostbur’s gone? How can you lose a ghost, he glows for christ's sake,” Phil asked.

“I didn’t lose him.. He just disappeared into thin air right in front of me.. He's gone,” Ranboo replied.

Face suddenly becoming deathly pale, Phil said, “there's no way he's gone, gone right? He wouldn't have crossed over without saying goodbye… leaving things like that.”

The anger seemed to melt out of Techno at the news and Phil’s panic. “Wilbur never leaves stuff alone even when he should, he's stubborn like that.” Putting a hoof on Phil’s shoulder in an attempt to offer comfort he continued, “he wouldn’t just leave.”

“This didn’t have anything to do with Dream’s visit did it, Ranboo?” Phil asked, his voice filling with suspicion as he snapped his gaze over to him.

“Wha- no, no Ghostbur disappeared way before Dream showed up. He didn’t even say anything about him when he was here,” Ranboo replied.

Taking a moment to scrutinize the face of an uncomfortable looking Ranboo with his gaze, Philza nodded. “I believe you but this means we have no leads” Pressing his face into his hands he groaned. “It's just one thing after another in this damn family.”

Techno squeezed Phil’s shoulder one last time before letting go. “We’ll find him Phil. I might find him annoying and disagree with bringing him back but I don’t want him gone.”

Phil released a brief sigh as some of the tension seemed to melt away from his shoulders, his wings seeming to droop slightly behind him. “I’ll go start checking the ru-”

“Bruhhhh, not sleeping is my thing, and you don’t exactly look like you’re in the best shape to go searching.” Techno said while giving Phil a once over with a laugh for emphasis. “You look like a half drowned chicken after an ice bath.”

Philza glanced down at himself as if just noticing how disheveled and soaked he looked. His hair had frozen to his head and his clothes hung damply onto his form with a light layer of frost coating his shoulders and wings. The painful numbness from the cold that he had been ignoring in his frenzy seemed to finally set in. The realization that his entire body felt stiff and that he couldn’t really feel his fingers or the tips of his wings started to set in.

“I agree with Techno. We might end up with another ghost if you went out like that,” Ranboo said.

“I couldn’t handle another haunting, Phil. You and Wilbur dead, together? Insufferable. I would have to call an exorcist and chat and wouldn't be happy at all. Think of all the lost views,” Techno added.

“I can’t just sit aside right now, what if he is in trouble? Ghostbur has the survival instincts of a bunny and we still don’t know how ghost death wor-” Philza cut himself off with a sneeze.

Laughing Techno pulled out a rag and handed it to Phil to blow his nose. “Imagine letting a cold kill you, that would be even more embarrassing than the baby zombie death. No one would ever let you live it down or die it down? Actually, I don’t think that expression works for the dead...”

Sniffling and shivering slightly Phil finally conceded, “fine. It would be pointless to go looking without any leads regardless.” Turning towards the ladder that led upstairs he continued, “I’m going to go change out of these wet clothes, you two should get some rest. Goodnight.”

Techno crinkled his snout as Phil headed upstairs. “I don’t know why he's saying that to me. We both sleep up there it's not like we aren’t gonna have to see each other again in a second.. Talk about awkward.” Turning back towards Ranboo, Technoblade said, “I know I said you could stay in the other building but if you start to feel unsafe the doors open. Goodnight Ranboo.”

Touched by the gesture Ranboo just nodded in reply before muttering a goodnight and heading towards the door.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Techno snored softly on a white bed near the wall while Phil laid on a heavy pallet of blankets towards the enchanting table in the small attic. As the faint morning light cascaded through the cottage’s windows washing the room in a soft orange glow. The sound of the howling outside caused the building to almost silently groan in response. A single beam of light from the window was angled perfectly to hit Technoblade’s face

Snorting slightly before slowly blinking his eyes open Techno started to awake. Letting out a brief groan as he rubbed his eyes before he reluctantly started to climb out of bed he muttered, “I’m going to check on Ranboo.”

Phil merely answered with a muffled whine as he seemed to snuggle deeper into his bed. He then pulled a blanket over his head and turned over as if to try and go back to sleep.

Trying to quietly climb down the latter Techno jumped a little at the sight that greeted him. Edward and Ranboo seemed to be quietly conversing as Ranboo stood over the crafting table as if he was preparing something.

The sound of Techno entering caused Ranboo to turn around with a dish of bread and other food in hand. “Morning Techno,” he greeted.

“Are you and Edward talking?” Techno paused to eye Ranboo for a second. "And _what_ are you wearing,” he finished with a laugh.

“Yeah, I speak ender,” Ranboo replied before glancing down at his clothes. He had on a slightly frilly light pink apron that was covered in splotches of flour “What? This is just my cooking apron.. a friend, well, an ex-friend gave it to me. I just wanted to make you and Philza breakfast as a thank you for being so cool about everything yesterday.”

“The color suits you,” Techno teased as he walked over and took a seat at the table. “I don’t think I have ever heard of anyone being able to speak ender.”

Placing the dish onto the table Ranboo wiped his hands on his apron before sitting down. “It’s a family thing.. I think.. but Edward wanted me to tell you that you’re a pretty good roommate other than the whole being trapped in a boat thing.”

Chuckling nervously, Techno shot Edward a look, being careful not to hit his eyes. “Uh I’m sure I can fix the boat thing.. Eventually.”

“I’ll make sure to tell him,” Ranboo replied.

Techno not replying just snatched some bread off the table before stuffing it into his mouth. “Thanks for breakfast you really didn’t need to do this,” he said with a voice muffled by the food in his mouth.

“It’s a small thing considering how you guys are really going out on a limb to trust me. It means a lot to me that you guys would take such a risk, especially after well everything,” Ranboo replied shyly. “I also may have made you a gift.. I was going to wait to give it to you as a thanks for letting me stay but I figured now was as good a time as any.” Reaching into his inventory Ranboo pulled out a shimmering netherite axe before pushing across the table to Techno.

In surprise Techno banged his hoof on the table as he started to choke on the bread he had been chewing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'lls comments and feedback fuels me so I just wanted to say thanks once again. Please keep letting me know what you think and don't be afraid to give criticism or even some ideas <3


	8. Ghost Hunting And a Bit of Blasphemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A heartfelt exchange, and hunt for their wayward ghost as some of Phil's future plans are derailed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I'm just getting back to ya'll updates will definitely be going a little slower probably 1-2 or maybe even 3 a week. I have 18 credit hours, a part time job, and a research project to work on once the semester starts Monday so its gonna be under a constant time crunch. I still have a lot planned and really enjoy all writing and all the sweet support/feedback. Please be patient with me :)

“Are you okay?”

Waving away Ranboo’s concern, Techno managed to get out a choked ‘fine’ between coughs. A few more moments of coughing into his hoof passed before he finally got his bearings. “Not even close,” he managed to hoarsely mutter under his breath. A now wide eyed Techno turned his focus to the axe. He picked it up and examined it by running his hoof across the edge before twirling it in his hands for a few seconds before shooting Ranboo a questioning look. “And you really… made this for me?”

“Yeah, why?” Ranboo asked, worried creeping into his tone. “Do you not like it? I know you lost your axe while blowing up a country. I think I got the enchantments right but I didn’t name it because I thought you would prefer to do it.. But I can take it back if you don’t want it..”

“Wha- no way. No take backsies, this is mine now. I’d never turn down a present. Dude, I love presents,” Techno replied with watery eyes as he cradled the axe to his chest.

Ranboo laughed a little and smiled before replying, “do you need a tissue? You look like your eyes are watering.”

Techno ran his arm across his face and averted his. “ I have no idea what you’re talking about… or are trying to imply.. Technoblade never cries. My heart isn’t warmed at all, I just got something in my eye.” The weapon seemed to shimmer and evaporate into thin air as Techno tucked it away in his inventory. “Thanks ’Ranboo, I appreciate it but don’t get the wrong idea we aren’t like friends or anything... I’m going to kill so many people with this.”

“Yeah of course just think of it as rent or something and please don’t.”

“He’s joking Ranboo, don’t worry about it.” Phil said with a chuckle as he descended the ladder into the room. A healthier color had seemed to return to his skin after a night of rest though the visible dark circles suggested it wasn’t as restful as it could have been.

“Mostly, mostly joking.” Techno said making sure to add extra emphasis to the word mostly. “To be fair I only kill people who deserve it.”

Phil laughed as he finally joined the two at the table. “Yeah right, remember that tim-”

Cutting Phil off with the wave of a hoof, “let's leave the past in the past Phil after all who’s to say I’m not turning a new leaf.”

“Considering how your last retirement went I highly doubt that but we have more important to worry about then your bloodlust. I sent out some messages last night and got a lead on Wil,” Phil said.

“What did you hear,” Ranboo asked.

“Instead of, I don’t know, telling us where he was going like a sensible person he just fucked off.” Phil replied, gesturing wildly as irritation colored his voice. Taking a deep breath he continued, “he’s fine, and with Tommy and Eret.”

Getting up from the table Techno said “With Tommy, you say? Well I guess I’ll let you two handle checking up on him. I’ve got some grinding to do anyways.” He stuffed some food in his inventory and started to move towards the door.

“You're gonna see him again at some point, Techno, avoiding it is pointless.” Phil replied, grabbing Techno’s arm as he walked past.

Pushing away Phil’s hand, Techno paused to shoot him a look. “I wouldn’t call it avoiding, I would just call it strategic circumvention.” Techno’s expression suddenly took on a darker edge, “besides, he better hope for his sake that he doesn't see me. I won’t go out of my way to hurt him but I won’t hesitate either if I have to. I can’t trust him anymore.”

Grimacing slightly at Techno’s words Phil just nodded and muttered a ‘fair’ in response.

“I’ll see you nerds later,” Techno said with a wave before disappearing out the door and into the cold Tundra.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He slid his chest plate slowly over his head before securing it tightly by adjusting the straps on its side. Tugging his boot over his feet Ranboo finally finished suiting up and began to quickly check over his inventory in preparation to leave. He was admittedly a little afraid that he might run into quite a few people who he wasn’t on the best of terms with while looking for Ghostbur.

Phil finished digging through an enderchest before slowly shutting it and standing up. “Ready,” he questioned, shooting Ranboo a look.

Ranboo nodded as he pulled his sword out of his inventory causing it shimmer into existence in his hand. “Ready.”

“Grab, Friend and meet me outside. I think he might receive us better if we bring him.”

After grabbing Friend, both of them met outside and started the short trek to the nether portal. The shining sun overhead and the lack of visible mobs suggested a leisurely walk ahead of them. As they neared it’s odd warbling sound seemed to beckon them into its embrace. 

The taste of ash and sulphur greeted them along with the distance sounds of gurgling lava. A hellscape of sweltering heat and flame, the nether’s brutal environment almost made Techno’s more violent tendencies make sense considering it used to be his home. The overbearing warmth immediately caused sweat to gather on both of their brows. Friends' wooly blue coat causing the animal to bah miserably at the heat.

“You don’t think anyone will attack us when we get there, right?” Ranboo questioned as they all walked down the poorly built nether path.

Phil shook his head and glanced over his shoulder at Ranboo. “No, no one would risk angering Techno, and there's not exactly much of an incentive to fight us. It wouldn’t exactly bring their precious nation back.”

Grimacing at the mention of L’manberg, the loss still fresh in his mind, Ranboo weakly replied, “right.”

A silence fell over the three with not even Friend so much as bahing while they crossed the treacherous nether bridges to the portal.

The ruins of the community house greeted them as they stepped out into the overworld. Ranboo pausing a moment to stare at it a moment before jerkily looking away.

Phil gave Ranboo a questioning look but didn’t comment. “I’m going to send Eret a message to see where they want us to meet them.” He pulled out his communicator and quickly typed out a message. The com quickly vibrated back in reply, Phil took a minute to look over the screen before letting out a small sound of irritation. “They’re at the crater that used to be L’manberg,” he said as he sent back a quick reply.

Ranboo nodded as they both started to head that way, Friend still trailing behind them both. “Do you think Tommy’s still with them?”

“God, I hope not,” Philza replied while making a face. “I’m still mad at the little gremlin and he isn’t exactly happy with me either.”

“Makes sense,” Ranboo said plainly. “Has everything always been so strained.. between you two?

Phil snorted at the question as they continued walking down the prime path. “Not always, once they hit the teenage years it all just became so scuffed. All of them, not just Tommy, were pure chaos growing up no matter what I did. It was kind of cute when they were younger but now with all the added ambition..it's disastrous. They won't take my advice or listen and it's all just too much.”

Ranboo nodded somberly at Phliza, taking note of the tinge of audible bitterness and pain in his tone. “Yeah.. that does sound like a lot.”

Phil didn’t reply, appearing to be lost in thought as they began to approach the ruins and wreckage of the L’manberg. It had a feeling of gloom and hopelessness hanging oppressively over it only partly due to its pathetic appearance. If neither of them had seen the nation that once stood there it would have been hard to imagine anything ever being there other than the ruins standing before them. The air still had a foggy look to it as small amounts of smoke drifted out of the ashen crater in small puffs. 

Both pausing at the top of the staircase as if to take in the sad scene of destruction before them. The expression on Ranboo's face was one of passive displeasure at the loss, not of the home he once knew but at the friends lost in the crossfire. Phil, meanwhile, stood indifferently while scanning the ruins for any sign of Ghostbur or Eret.  
As his eyes landed on a familiar but distant yellow clad figure who appeared to be waving wildly in their direction. “I see him,” Phil said with a laugh at his son’s antics, before pointing them out. Ranboo who appeared to be lost in thought didn’t seem to notice. “I see them, let's go,” Philza repeated, softly elbowing Ranboo in the side to get his attention before walking forward. 

Taking a moment to rub his side and look over the destruction one last time, Ranboo gave one last frown before reluctantly following after with Friend in tow. “Right, I’m coming.”

Walking down the remaining shambles of the prime path they quickly walked to the edge of the crater making sure to avoid the larger pieces of rubble. Approaching one of the outer edges of the destruction Eret, and Ghostbur came into view.

“Phil, Ranboo.. FRIEND!” Ghostbur shouted, waving wildly as they advanced towards them. 

Eret, who had been placing a variety of blocks, looked over his shoulder at Ghostbur’s exclamation. “Hey,” he greeted simply before turning back and placing down another gold block. His expression gave away very little as usual the bulk of it hidden behind his sunglasses.

As Ranboo and Philza said their hellos, Ghostbur darted over to Friend and gave him a hug. “You brought Friend,” he said cheerfully burying his face in Friend’s wooly coat.

Phil looked over Wil for a second, searching his expression for any signs of more sadness than usual. “So you aren’t mad?”

Pulling away from Friend, Ghostbur gave Phil an inquisitive look. “Why would I be mad, and for what?”

Ranboo and Philza briefly exchanged a look of concern before Phil turned his gaze back to Ghostbur. “Nothing you need to worry about Wil,” he said sadly.

“Oh good, every time someone tells me something about anything it's usually bad,” Ghostbur replied nonchalantly as he returned to petting Friend.

Eret stood back from his now finished build with a sigh. “You guys got here just in time,” he said as he turned towards the others.

“Time for what..?” Ranboo questioned as Phil’s gaze snapped over to Erets build as if to realize something.

“A resurrection,” Eret replied, gesturing to the newly built altar before crossing his arms.

“Oh,” Ranboo replied, his voice quiet.  
Philza glanced over towards Ghostbur who still seemed to be absorbed with Friend. “You went to Eret about coming back? You don’t even like him.. You weren’t going to do it without me were you?”

Ghostbur stopped petting Friend and walked over closer to the group, a bashful look on his face. “You’ve been so sad lately, I wanted to surprise you! Eret didn’t want to keep it secret, he just wanted to help to make up for being a dirty backstabbing traitor!”

Eret grimaced at Ghostbur’s words before turning his attention to Phil. “I was going to message you about it but he asked me not to. After everything I owe him at least that.. but the timing just ended up working out perfectly considering that we need you for it to work.”

“To reenact it, yes I know how the ritual works,” Philza replied blandly, the hurt audible in his tone.

Ghostbur floated over to Phil and shoved some dye in his hands. “Don’t be mad Phil, I just wanted to surprise you. Here,have some blue.”

“You know necromancy,” Eret questioned with the raise of an eyebrow. 

“No, no, I’ve been researching it too,” Philza replied sheepishly as he glanced at the ground. “Did you get the totem?”

Pressing his lips together Eret uncrossed his arms with a sigh. “No, totem. I don’t know anyone on the server that has any.”

“Doesn’t Techno still have one,” Ranboo asked with a look towards Philza.

Shaking his head dejectedly Phil replied, “you were there for that conversation, Ranboo, he wants nothing to do with this. I doubt he’d be willing to give me a totem for this especially after using his last one.”

“Oh yeah,” Ranboo said quietly to himself as he thought back to the recent spat between the two.

“We should still try, it can’t hurt to try,” Eret stated.

“What are you guys doing,” a familiar voice broke in from a top of some of the nearby rubble.

“Tommy!! Look, I’ve got Friend with me,” Ghostbur exclaimed with glee as he shot his brother a wave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a weak cliffhanger but I figured every chapter can't be a doozy, though there is gonna be a lot going on again real soon. Its time for necromanncyyyyyyy and other... stuff.. ;)


	9. With Two... Three.. No, FOUR G's?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Raising the dead can't be that hard, I mean what could go wrong?" -Philza minecraft

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My life is currently the equivalent of whatever kind of torture the bottom ring of hell is so I am sorry this is so very very late. I had a break up, a family member got a bad medical news, my centipedes died, (RIP Greenbean and Butterbean), and I have 4+ test next week plus 2 lab reports... so yeah.. I'm still enjoying writing though so I won't abandon this as long as I keep getting feedback/people enjoying it but it'll likely stay slow moving though maybe not as slow as this last chapter. It was a bit of a slog to write as its a mix of some dialogue lifted from a vod and some divergent stuff. It should start really diverge from here though I like the way canon's going its more fun to add my own flair so be prepared! I got some ideas.. If you'd like to keep up with me then follow me on tumblr https://h3118ender.tumblr.com

“Hey, Ghostbur,” Tommy replied, giving the specter an unenthused wave. “Ranboo, Eret… Philza,” he said with a nod as he briefly looked around at the others. He scrunched his nose up as his gaze made its way to the odd altar structure by Eret. “What's all this?”

“Hey Tommy,” Ranboo said, pausing a moment after to give Eret and Phil a chance to reply. Eret gave a weak wave and Philza stayed silent as he side eyed Tommy. “It's a uh altar, we’re trying to resurrect Wilbur.” He stated in an attempt to break the awkward silence that had settled.

“Huh, so you really meant it when you said you wanted back.?” Tommy asked, his tone taking on an edge of trepidation.

“A goodbye is a goodbye, Tommy. Don’t look so upset about it though,” he continued as he started to walk over to Tommy, Friend still trailing beside him. Once Ghostbur was close enough he wrapped an arm around his younger brother. “Here have some blue,” he said as he pressed some dye into his hands. “And smile for god’s sake you’ll be getting your brother back,” he finished as he gave Tommy a soft noogie.

Shoving Ghostbur off of him with a huff of annoyance, Tommy took a moment to run a hand through his hair in an attempt to fix it. “You are my brother though Ghostbur, a weird fucked up part of him but definitely still my brother.”

Ghostbur’s shoulders drooped and his face began to crumple at Tommy’s words. “Do you not want him back? Was Wilbur really that bad at the end?” he asked, his voice growing watery towards the end. He looked down at his hands one of which tightly clutched a blue dye as ephemeral tears seemed to gather and glisten at the corner of his eyes.

“Uh.. I- Wilbur’s not like you, Ghostbur,” Tommy answered solemnly. He averted his gaze as if looking at Ghostbur’s sorrow would be too much.

“Wha- wh- in what way?”

“You’re very uh… you’re all poggers,” he replied as he turned his gaze back up to Ghostbur’s. 

“I am quite poggers,” Ghostbur agreed in a weak tone, as a small smile returned to his face.

Tommy stepped closer to Ghostbur and leaned into his space before placing a hand on his shoulder. “Wilbur’s not so poggers,” he whispered into the ghost’s ear, pain lacing his voice.  
Ghostbur let out a pained gasp at Tommy’s words as he turned back towards Phil. “I don’t know if I want to be not so poggers, Philza.”

Phil, who had started laughing at his youngest son’s typical elegant way of phrasing, stopped as he noticed Ghostbur’s genuine distress. “Aw-”

“Here take that.” Tommy cut Phil off as he pressed the blue Ghostbur had given him earlier back into the apparition’s hands. 

“I’m calm, I’ve calmed myself,” Ghostbur said as he clutched his newly re-acquired piece of blue in his free hand, next to his other dye.

“Yeah, thank me.. thank me old man,” Tommy said in an unsure but teasing tone, as if to test Phil’s temperament while shooting a glance towards Philza as he walked towards the side, away from Ghostbur.

Phil took a deep sigh and rolled his eyes in reply before shooting Tommy a cold look. “Thanks.. Child.” As much as he loved his youngest, they still weren't exactly on the best of terms as the kid's betrayal to Techno and by extension his family was still fresh. It didn’t help that he was more of an outsider to their family even from the very beginning. If Phil was really being honest with himself Tommy was always more of Wilbur’s brother then his son. The strange little orphan from the woods that his actual son dragged into the dysfunctional disaster he called family. “Ready, Wil?” he asked as he tried to refocus his thoughts on the task at hand.

Ghostbur seemed to stare at the dye in his hands for a second before taking a slow deep breath. “I.. I think I’m ready,” the hesitance was audible in his shaky voice. “Hold friend for me?” he asked, stretching out the lead towards Tommy.

“Of course,” Tommy nodded as he took the worn rope from Wilbur’s spectral hands.

The specter glided towards the lapis and gold, brewer lined shrine before stopping at its steps. Ghostbur paused reluctantly before floating up the rest of the steps. “Why is there a fish up here? Solely… Saily?? Is it because you guys know I love fish, especially eating it.”

A sound of mutual disgust sounded from everyone near, along with a quiet what the fuck from Tommy.

“I should say the lines shouldn’t I? I should, uh it was not meant to ever happen- wait no. It was never meant to be? That's the traitor saying, right, Ere-”

Phil who had been following behind Ghostbur face twisted in distaste at Wil’s earlier words as he stopped a few steps from the ghost’s back. His sword made a slight clanging sound as he pulled it out of his scabbard. 

The noise seemed to snap Ghostbur out of his musing’s as he glanced over his shoulder, his gaze meeting the glint of the blade. “I uh.. don’t think. I uh um think I’ve changed my mind,” he said fear suddenly flooding his face. “Th-Thank you Eret, it was uh nice of you to put this together but I don’t think I can do this.” He looked over in the king’s direction as he finished stammering his thanks.

Philza made a sound of pity at his son’s fear, it was more than disheartening to know that he was in some ways responsible. He lowered his sword and raised one of his hands in a non-threatening motion. “Wil.. a fox out there needs a father.. and I don’t think I could live with myself if we didn’t at least try.”

“You’re right, you’re right, and the world needs a ruler..” Ghostbur said with a deep sigh. He turned back towards Phil, “it won’t hurt this time will it? I very clearly remember my death and it was unpleasant to say the least.”

Phil wasn’t exactly an expert on the logistics of phantom pain but considering what water and rain did to Wilbur it wasn’t too much of a stretch to assume it would definitely hurt. He looked down at his sword and ran a hand across the blunt of the blade as if lost in thought. “I’ll make it quick,” Phil replied as he brought his gaze back up to Ghostbur.

“Do you.. Do you think I’ll still be me? I don’t want to disappear Phil,” he murmured lowly as a sorrowful look filled his expression.

“Of course you’ll still be you, you’re Wilbur just without some of the.. additional trauma..”

“I’m not though, I’m really not, Phil. I don’t know who Wilbur is, I’m not him. I don’t remember what it was like to be him. Everyone wants to treat me like I’m him but I’m not.. Whoever he was is a stranger to me yet everyone wants me to be him, to make up for his sins.” Ghostbur’s voice broke off towards the end of his rant before pausing then continuing, “I’m his shell, his shadow, and I’m afraid that.. If I go back I won’t be me… I’ll be terrible again.”

“Oh Jesus,” Philza muttered to himself in frustration. He walked over to Ghostbur and put a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort. “You're still you without your memories whether you want to be or not and hiding from that won’t make it go away. I’d be lying if I didn’t say you did fuck up a lot of things but even after all of it we still want you back, I still want you back. You’re my son..”

“You really mean that?” Ghostbur wearily asked with a sniffle.

“Of course.” Philza lifted his hand off of Wilbur’s shoulder and took a step back as he re-raised his sword into a strike position. “You rea-”

“Just for the record I miss you or- well wilbur too,” Tommy shouted to Ghostbur.

Philza glared at Tommy a moment for interrupting before repeating his question. “Are you ready?”

“Thank you Eret.. I- no I need to be killed. When I look at this crater, I don’t see a somewhere that Ghostbur made better. I see a world that is owned by weakness, Eret,” Ghostbur said as he looked over to Eret. “And I am not a strong man, I’m not a strong man-”

“You were a strongman,” Eret cut in.

“Ghos- yeah but I’m not a strong Ghost. This world needs strength right now and I- ugh mm it's one of those things where I want to.. Phil, Phil do it, I don’t want to look. I'll keep my back turned and look towards Saily,” he said as he turned to face the front of the shrine. “I’ll hold my blue and you just put the sword through my chest, right where the scar is that hurts. And I-I’ll be back and the world will be strong again.”

“Ok.. you ready,” Philza asked.

“Please do it quick, don’t take your time.. Please.”

“You have to call me Kilza, Wil.”

“Kilza kill me, Killza pleas-” Ghostbur’s pleas were cut off and replaced with a noise of shocked pain as Philza cleanly plunged the sword in the jagged exit wound that marked his back. A faint blue light seemed to glow from his eyes and the cut before increasing in intensity before he was gone in a flash.

“Did it work,” Eret asked as he glanced around at everyone.

“Oh no...” Tommy asked as everyone else held their breath in anticipation. The moment hung in the air for a second longer before the lack of Wilbur’s reappearance started to sink in. “Phil what have you done..?”

As the panic set in Philza lowered his sword and pointed towards Eret. “It was his idea. It was Eret’s idea. It was Eret’s idea”

“Ghostbur..? Ghostbur??!” Tommy ran over to where Ghostbur had been standing and started to frantically pick their things up off the ground. “Huh… his blue…”

“See I thought.. I’ve been looking up stuff about this whole resurrection thing and I thought you found something different, Eret. I thought you found something more based in fact but the scriptures I’ve been reading all said you needed a totem.” Phil slide his sword into his scabbard before burying his face in his hands out of frustration. 

“Oh Phil… oh my aw. I’ve got a bone to pick with,” Tommy said, throwing his hands up in the air as he paced.

“It’s not Phil’s fault,” Ranboo said, turning towards tommy.

“I know Phil’s just a bad guy,” Tommy replied as he stopped to shoot Philza a poisonous look.

“Wait, wait,” Philza said as a small light started to manifest at the base of the shrine.

A chorus of “Wil” rang out through the group as the light seemed to grow then coalesce slowly into a familiar looking apparition.

“He’s still Ghostbur. It didn’t work,” Phil uttered before bursting into laughter slightly out of relief and slightly at the absurdity of the situation. “At least, I didn’t just erase him from history entirely, jesus christ.” 

Ghostbur had a bewildered and confused look on his face as he glanced around as if to take in his surroundings. “I thou- I thought… but I died, that was canon.” He paused a second his hands curling into fists at his side. “That was a canon death! That wa-”

“Where did you go? Like, what did you see?” Philza asked as he cut him off.

“I dunno everything went dark then I felt lik- WELL THAT WAS BLOODY ANTICLIMACTIC!” Ghostbur proclaimed as he threw his hands up in frustration. “I thought I was gonna be dead now I’m just a double ghost. I’m G-Ghostbur, I’m G-Ghostbur! This is the worst thing! I jus- I felt the sword go in my back, I felt- I felt free. I felt like I had done it like I had broke free. And I had went somewhere dark and there were two people there, and then, and then I’m instantly back!”

“Who were the two people?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t get time to see,” Ghostbur whined. He paused and turned towards Eret. “Did you do everything right? Did you do the ritual right?”

According to my research and as much as I know we did everything, in my power, to do right. Um but according to Philza there might be another way.”

“What’s the other way?”

“The other way that I’ve been researching calls for you to use a totem. You know how when you hold a totem, it prevents you from dying? That's not actually true.. you die and then you come back to life. It’s within an area of the person holding the totem.”

“We have one of those don’t we?” Ghostbur asked as he looked around at everyone in question.

“I don’t,” Ranboo replied.

“I don’t,” Philza said echoing ranboo’s sentiment as he crossed his arms. “They're very rare.”

“They’re very very rare. One of the rarest items in the entire realm,” Eret stressed.

Ghostbur’s ghostly glow seemed to dim at their words as he sighed deeply. “And no one would waste one of those on a ghost..” He turned his gaze towards Philza and gave his best puppy dog eyes. “Philza?”

Laughing at his son’s antics Philza just shook his head. “I don’t have one.”

“I just-I’m gonna be honest with you Phil after seeing where I could go.. I’m totally fine with going back. They seemed like two lovely people and I’m totally willing to go back,” Ghostbur said.

Phil’s laughter died out and his expression began to drop at Ghostbur’s words. “So.. you… want to stop existing?” 

“Yea-I’ve said this.. It's scary.. It's a scary thought but I’m happy to stop existing.. Listen we need some way- is there anyone who has a totem of undying,” Ghostbur asked.

“Techno has one.”

“Well lets just go ask him, he’d help me. He wants Wilbur back, right?” Ghostbur turned towards Tommy. “That's what he told me, that's what he said. Isn’t that right, Tommy?”

“Eeee-yea,” Tommy replied as he looked at Phil and Ranboo who just shook their heads.

“Maybe if we try it with Friend it’ll work,” Ghostbur exclaimed reaching a hand out towards Tommy. “If not then we can just rob Technoblade,” he finished as Tommy quietly handed him Friends lead back.

“I uh don’t know about that,” Philza said as a smile returned to his face at the thought.

Tommy who after handing Ghostbur the lead had started to sneak away. “I’m uh sorry- I don’t want to be a part of this anymore,” he announced softly as he started towards a nearby hill.

“We can speed run it this time,” Ghostbur said as he took a few moments to pet Friend. “It’ll b- hey where’s Tommy,” he questioned as he finally noticed his brother’s sudden absence. 

Ignoring Ghostbur’s question, Phil gestured back towards the shrine. “Lets just try it again, one more time.”

Oh, alrig-Fundy, my boy,”Ghostbur said with a wave towards the approaching figure.

“Don’t call me your boy,” Fundy replied with a groan as his muzzle scrunched up in distaste. He walked up and stopped next to Eret. “What are you guys doing?”

“Some light necromancy,” Eret replied.

“Oh,” Fundy replied as he looked over towards Ghostbur. “You me-”

“Daddy’s coming back,” Ghostbur announced gleefully as he started to retake his place on the shrine's steps.

“ I- uh don’t ugh nevermind,” Fundy groaned his ears twitching slightly.

“Just say the words, Wil,” Philza said as he rolled his eyes.

“The button doesn’t work.. there once was a place where people could go..” Ghostbur started before he turned towards the button. “As a traitor once said it was never not meant to be.”

“I wasn’t even there and I know that wasn’t what you sa-” Fundy started to say but fell silent when he caught Philza’s murderous look.

As Ghostbur pressed the button he turned towards his son. “Fundy say bang, now do it Phil. Drive the sword through my back, do it!” 

Over the sound of Fundy shouting bang Philza drove his sword right through Ghostbur’s form. The blade once again causing the specter to disappear in a blinding flash.

A tense moment of silence seemed to hang thick in the air as everyone waited in silence to see what would happen. A few agonizing minutes seemed to pass before a small light appeared. A spectral form once again reappearing but this time something seemed off.

“What the fuck,” a voice whispered as a chorus of confusion sounded through the crowd at the unfamiliar yet oddly familiar timbre of its tone. The spectre raised its head and looked at the group, it was definitely Ghostbur but he had other new features too. A pair of horns adorned his head and his facial features seemed to have shifted slightly. “What the fuck is this? Oh my god, I was jerking off! What the fuck is-where am I?  
“Schlatt..??” Fundy asked.

“No.. no.. no.. no.. no fuck this I don’t want to come back to this goddamn server,” Glatt said his hands now pulling at his hair. “No, no no. You guys don’t understand I’m canonically dead, that's what I want. Glatt”

“What? Glatt,” Philza asked in shock at the whole turn of events.

“Glatt, Glatt. Nah, dude, nah dude. It's not gonna happen I was in the middle of something. I gotta go.”

“Uh okay,” Eret replied as the ghostly form seemed to distort and fade.

“He said he was jacking off,” Phil said with a laugh.

In a bright flash, Ghostbur returned with a bewildered look.. “I’m still G-G-GHOSTBUR.. What.. there was only one person there that time, what the.. Phil you said it would work this time if I had Friend.”

“I thought it would help but I didn’t say it would work, What we need is a totem.” Philza replied before pausing for a moment to look Ghostbur over intensely. “You uh have some new.. Er attachments.”

“Wha-” Ghostbur cut himself off as he brought a hand up to the side of his head. “What the fuck is this?”

“We were hoping maybe you could tell us,” Eret replied.

“Why would I kn-” Ghostbur started saying before he’s tone shifted and he jerked slightly. “God damn it, he can’t tell you but I can. I'm still here you dumbfucks, put me back or I’ll find a way to finish right here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How could I not add Glattbur?? I know Schlatt's comedy can be dubious but god is he funny sometimes and I really miss him on the server. Let me know what ya'll think and please for the love of god when you can get vaccinated if you can get vaccinated. Stay safe and healthy everyone <3


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